“It’s not the situation right now” : Mattia Binotto asserts Ferrari won’t pick a number one driver

“It’s not the situation right now” : Mattia Binotto asserts Ferrari won’t pick a number one driver

Charles Leclerc(on the left) and Carlos Sainz(on the right)

Ferrari is still very much in the title chase despite experiencing a string of really disastrous reliability issues. Some people feel that the Maranello-based racing team should enforce team orders more forcefully. When determining which driver to prioritise, Ferrari has a history of being merciless and has never hesitated to give team orders to optimize the effectiveness of their “number one” driver.

Part of McLaren’s most recent Drivers Championship success in 2007 came from their failure to fully use the talents of their hypercompetitive driver partnership. Nevertheless, Ferrari’s own tactical and organisational errors have cost the team much more than Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc’s on-track scuffles.

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Also Read: “We simply reduced the gap” : Ferrari contends their efficiency deficit to Red Bull is now ‘negligible’

Mattia Binotto contends that Ferrari aren’t being biased at the moment

Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto
Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto

Ferrari could have prevented the team’s disastrous performance at the British Grand Prix by giving Leclerc full priority, but the Maranello team’s inexcusable negligence was arguably more responsible for losing a benchmark 102.

However, given Red Bull’s readiness to make compromises for reigning Formula One World Champion Max Verstappen’s benefit, Ferrari might think about adopting a more brutal strategy. At this point in the season, Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto dismisses that Ferrari must give Sainz or Leclerc priority.

“The fastest car on the track is the one which is prioritised. We believe by doing so, certainly at this time of the championship, [it] is the best thing we can do. If, later in the championship, there will be one of the two drivers that got most of the opportunities, certainly we may try to give him full priority. But it’s not the situation right now. First, what we are trying to do every single race is try to maximise the team points.Obviously, there are two championships, the Constructors’ and the Drivers’. By maximising the team points, I’m pretty sure we are also maximising the drivers’ opportunity to take points from our opponents,” said Binotto.