“They had the advantage,” Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto claims team lost the set-up battle to Red Bull

“They had the advantage,” Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto claims team lost the set-up battle to Red Bull

Scuderia Ferrari's Team Principal and Engineer Mattia Binotto

Ferrari continued their good run of form in 2022 after both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finished P2 and P3 in the 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The Italian racing team lead the constructor’s championship but Team Principal Mattia Binotto is aware that Red Bull’s resurgence would challenge their lead soon.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won a hard-fought battle to win the 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The Dutchman started the race 4th in the grid behind the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. Teammate Sergio Perez finished 4th despite starting the race from Pole Position for the first time in his career.

The new regulations have definitely shaken up the grid order and inhibited closer racing. Binotto accepted that Red Bull was better in the fast circuit of Saudi Arabia with a better straight-line speed compared to Ferrari.

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Mattia Binotto is curious to witness racing in Australian GP next

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Max Verstappen vs Charles Leclerc

Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc had another round of close racing. During the last 10 laps of the day, Max made numerous attempts to overtake Leclerc before finally making a lunge in the 47th lap. The Dutchman crosses the line half a second ahead of Leclerc in a nail-biting finish. Mattia Binotto identified that team hadn’t set up their cars optimally and Red Bull were effectively much faster than them in the corners.

Binotto said, “We decided to run more downforce for tyre degradation and it wasn’t an issue for Red Bull. They took advantage of it, driving with more downforce at first but then changed it [Saturday]. We stayed with our downforce level but unfortunately the tyre wear was not an issue in this race.”

He stated, “Red Bull has a lot of speed on the straights. We have been a bit faster with our compromise in the corners. There will be different tracks and I will be curious to see Melbourne with the new layout and curious to see Imola but overall it will be a great battle.”

With Round 2 done and dusted, the racing will resume at Melbourne’s Albert Park after a week’s break. The track underwent layout changes, focused on improving racing. And it is expected that these modifications will reduce qualifying lap times by as much as 5 seconds.

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