‘I don’t think there is any hope in that’: Mattia Binotto dismisses suggestions of Ferrari’s gap to Red Bull at Spa as ‘track-specific’
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Mattia Binotto
Right from the start of the weekend, Max Verstappen’s Red Bull looked by far the quickest car on the grid. He only drove home that point by being the fastest man in qualifying by more than 6 tenths from Carlos Sainz, who actually started on pole position due to a grid penalty for the Dutchman.
Ferrari, on the other hand, were nowhere near even competing for the win. In fact, their pace looked to be on the same or a worse level than Mercedes’ George Russell, who almost jumped Carlos Sainz for the podium places. It was a rather difficult weekend, and the second in a row when the car’s pace has just not been there. Of course, the team itself has not been spotless with its decisions, but the car has just not been good enough.
Hungary was a track where Ferrari were targeting a 1-2 but had to settle for a 4-6 here. Belgium was always looking like a Red Bull track, but there was surprise at just how big the gap was. They finished 3-6 here, in the same order as in Hungary, Carlos Sainz in front and Charles Leclerc (with more bad luck) in sixth. Ferrari and Leclerc’s championship charges are just about done now, and there may be more pain to come, as Mattia Binotto thinks the pace deficit was not just track-specific.
Mattia Binotto: ‘It has been a true difference between us and Red Bull this weekend’
As reported by Motorsport.com, when asked if the deficit was track-specific and if Ferrari might recover quickly in the next race, Mattia Binotto was not very hopeful. He said: “I don’t think there is any hope in that. It has been a true difference between us and the Red Bulls this weekend.”
Red Bull were even faster in Hungary, which was expected to be more of a Ferrari track: “I think they have been slightly faster in Hungary, which has been a different kind of track, high downforce. So overall, I think simply today, the Red Bull is a faster car compared to what we’ve got in terms of overall efficiency because Spa is where you need efficiency in terms of the aerodynamics and power unit.”
Max Verstappen was able to go 4 laps longer on the soft than Carlos Sainz did, which drives home Binotto’s point: “But more than that, we have as well a lot of tyre degradation that we need to look into. They have been stronger as well in terms of tyre degradation. So I don’t think it has been an outlier. They are faster to us than what I am hoping.”
But regardless of their deficit in Spa, Mattia Binotto does think that the gap will not be this extreme in the next races, believing that the long track amplifies the advantage a car has over another. He points to the degradation as the most concerning part, and concluded by saying they will try to understand and address it.
Also Read: “There is a big question mark”: Mattia Binotto raises concerns about FIA’s budget cap policy
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Aniket Tripathi
(1002 Articles Published)