Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto doubts the team will have a significant performance advantage over Mercedes at next week’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Mercedes has claimed Ferrari enjoy a significant straight-line speed advantage, which would help the team on the long straights of Baku. However Binotto played down the team’s top speed and said it would not necessarily be the deciding factor in next week’s race.“If you look at the speed of Mercedes [in China] I think they were very strong as well,” he said, “so maybe you should ask them how they are so good. I don’t think there is much on the straights in [between] us and the others.
“Baku is a circuit where you’ve got a different aero configuration certainly so I think it’s not only power units it could be aero configuration. It’s not only the straights in Baku, it’s a lot of corners. It’s a circuit that’s very difficult in that respect so let’s see.”
Although Mercedes have scored one-two finishes in all the races so far this year, Ferrari showed their potential by sweeping the front row of the grid in Bahrain.
“I think the competition is very tough,” he said. “There are races where you may be in front by a few hundredths.”
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Roth Man (@rdotquestionmark)
19th April 2019, 8:32
There’s something so ‘comfortable’ about Mercedes’ situation. The psychology of this pretend argument Ferrari are so much stronger is fascinating, quite frankly everything seems so calm on the surface they’ve never even had to get out of second gear (not literally). They didn’t even open the car up in pre-season testing that’s how confident they were. I don’t know if the constant down talking is to put more pressure on Ferrari or to try and get the fans a little more excited after years of their dominance that there could be a little unpredictability. Either way the less competitive they say they are going to be, the more dominant and comfortable they are.
Paul
19th April 2019, 8:40
Nonesense, if Leclerc hadn’t had electrical problem in Bahrain, they would have won. Ferrari were genuinely faster in qualy and race in Bahrain.
Roth Man (@rdotquestionmark)
29th June 2019, 11:27
@Paul Nonsense? 😉
Chaitanya
19th April 2019, 8:44
It seems like Mercs have managed to understand how to setup their car to each track which they have learned through last years of Diva cars.
MG1982 (@mg1982)
19th April 2019, 9:33
You must be new to F1… or motorsport in general! Let’s be honest, Ferrari is in motorsport for like 70 years now, more than sure they have a pretty good idea what they’re supposed to do. It’s not like they’re using Monaco setup for Monza! I’m sure they don’t miss the best setup by much, the actual design of the car is at fault for the lack of performance compared to Mercedes.
Roth Man (@rdotquestionmark)
19th April 2019, 9:42
You’ve missed the point entirely and thrown in an unnecessary passive aggressive insult for no apparent reason. Chaitanya only said Mercedes have mastered the diva setup issues that plagued them previously, which is a fair comment. No mention of Ferrari not knowing how to set up a car at all.
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
19th April 2019, 11:35
It’s not that Ferrari lack knowing how to setup a car.
It is their car being a diva. Each setup has an operational window, that window might be narrow, unstable, changing through out the race. There are various issues why an F1 car despite being fast might not be fast over a race.
grat
19th April 2019, 14:07
Yes, and how many of their mechanics and engineers have been in the garage 70 years? Not that it really matters, because setup for the 2019 car is different from the 2018 car, which was different from all the cars before that.
Dialing in a car for maximum performance is as much art as science, and it’s obvious it’s easier to get the Mercedes into it’s comfort zone than it is the Ferrari.
Ferrari will figure it out, but they’re hemorrhaging points to Mercedes in the meantime.
Jean-Christophe
20th April 2019, 10:09
I’m not so sure about Mercedes being easier to dial up. Lewis found it extremely difficult in China.
The Ferrari seems to lack front end grip. On a rear limited track like Bahrain it didn’t show but in China they couldn’t keep up.
F1oSaurus (@)
20th April 2019, 12:32
Actually I don’t think this is so much about Ferrari having a “diva car”. Mercedes had a car that would perform perfectly one minute and the next it just didn’t want to go. That’s “diva” behavior.
Ferrari just seem to have no clue what to do to get the maximum performance out of their new car reliably. It keeps performing at the same level though. Whatever level they reach.
@mg1982 It’s amazing how you keep clinging to this idea. Vettel has said they have issues understanding the car and that he’s sure they will unlock the full potential of the car at some point.
Mercedes went with pretty much the same concept car they have been using the last few seasons. It’s potentially limited in performance, but it does make it easier to understand.
Ferrari went with a whole new front wing concept which trickles down the whole of the car. Ferrari’s design showed to be a much more promising approach in Barcelona testing (where they had plenty time to setup the car), but the consequence is that they do have more difficulty understanding their car. This is especially apparent with limited testing available at race weekends.
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
25th April 2019, 10:05
Ferrari gave away points to Max Verstappen, who is now third on the WDC points board, and the let Pierre Gasly walk away from the Chinese GP with the Fastest Lap point. One wouldn’t have expected this from a team with 70 years of history. This failure was all down to poor tactics and strategies. Ferrari should have left China with at least 3rd and 4th place, but no, Ferrari chose strategies so they could walk away from with Vettel being 3rd and “someone else” (some would say Charles is their best driver, but we shouldn’t mention his name in case Ferrari loose “focus”) being 5th. I just can’t equate this with the Ross Brawn and subsequent Team Principals version of Ferrari until now. It seems to me that if the current senior people had the choice between maximising their points at China (Charles and Sebastian ahead of Max), or squandering points (by letting Max finish in front of one or both of their cars), that they’d choose the option that was second best. Anyway, it is ancient history now: Ferrari happily left China with 3rd and 5th, happy that Charles finished behind Sebastian, happy that Sebastian is ahead of Charles on the WDC points board, and happy that Max Verstappen has more WDC points than … well, let’s not place too much emphasis on this, after all Ferrari (and Red Bull Racing) are happy.
Jean-Christophe
20th April 2019, 10:19
It could just be that Mercedes want to stay focused and motivated. Thinking that you’re in front can make you complacent.
I genuinely believe that before Melbourne they were convinced that they’d have to play catch up. The thing is, when Mercedes are behind, they work hard to bridge the gap. It shows in their body language and the way they talk.
The best example is when they had no answers to Ferrari speed in Spa last year. I really thought that the succession of Spa, Monza and Singapore would be a disaster for them yet they bounced back brilliantly.
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
19th April 2019, 9:33
It must be an incredible worry for Ferrari.
They badly need a win – if they miss out in the next race, I’d say their season is done & the only competition Hamilton will have is Bottas.
DAllein (@)
19th April 2019, 9:52
3-4 first races and their season already “done”? How so?
Ferrari is very close to Mercedes, they just can’t deliver… In my view everything can still change in a blink of an eye. We still have a giant amount of races ahead.
And we didn’t even have first major aero and engine upgrades from either Ferrari or Mercedes, so it is too early to write off season.
Joe
19th April 2019, 12:05
I guess they are suggesting that a 30 point advantage already might become 40 or more by the next race a gap which might prove unrecoverable.
hobo (@hobo)
19th April 2019, 16:37
@dallein –
I talked about this a few days ago, even made COTD.
No one is saying that mathematically Ferrari is out, that’s is clearly false. In brief:
–In both 2017 and 2018 the biggest gap Ferrari (Vettel) ever overcame against Hamilton was 25pts. Last year they only made up that big of a gap due to Hamilton DNFing.
–Vettel is 31pts behind Hamilton now.
My conclusion is that it is already Hamilton’s WDC and barring reliability issues or a development dead-end for Mercedes, the season is effectively over. @dbradock above is being even more generous saying that if Ferrari (which I am interpreting to mean Vettel) doesn’t win the next race, then it is over. Even if Vettel gets second to Hamilton’s first, that would be a 38pt gap. That is a lot to overhaul.
Yes, there are plenty of races left, but Ferrari has proven incapable even with good cars of clawing back points on Mercedes. They would need a big leap.
DAllein (@)
19th April 2019, 21:25
@hobo, thanks for clarification.
Good point. Though I would argue that bland points statistics is all good and nice, but we can’t just deny that a huge swing can happen.
For example Lewis’s run of results from race 14 to 21 last year… It happened.
Of course he was brilliant, and Mercedes was on top of their game, but I am pointing only at the possibility of such result. Regardless of any deficit to rivals.
So, while it never happened for Ferrari, I can’t really accept it is impossible. Definitely not now, at 3rd race.
hobo (@hobo)
19th April 2019, 22:10
@dallein – Agreed that such a swing can happen, at any point. But only Mercedes has had big swings the past two seasons. So it isn’t only statistics, it’s also which team has been capable of moves and which hasn’t.
Regardless, I am curious if the trend continues this year. I really hope not as it would be great to be at or near the final race with a single point difference between two drivers, even better if they’re on different teams.
F1oSaurus (@)
20th April 2019, 12:22
@hobo That was because Vettel kept on blundering. I’m not sure if you should factor that into the statistics. See how Verstappen got over his blundering ways of early 2018 and became a serious contender since.
hobo (@hobo)
20th April 2019, 23:45
@f1osaurus – You can certainly factor that out if you wish, but that is part of the point. Whether it is Ferrari not developing enough, or Vettel not performing enough (to include cracking under pressure), the result is the same. In addition, this has happened two seasons in a row now, so it’s not a one-off.
F1oSaurus (@)
21st April 2019, 18:07
@hobo Well I guess, but again we’ve seen Verstappen learn to correct his ways. Why wouldn’t Vettel at some point get the idea to simply finish races.
Plus Ferrari does seem to have a lot of performance potential above Mercedes. If Ferrari ends up understanding the car better and unlocking it’s potential back to a 5 tenths a lap faster car, Vettel will be back in his Red Bull days of lapping completely on his own and starting from pole with a protected #1 position.
hobo (@hobo)
26th April 2019, 15:53
@f1osaurus Anything is possible. But recent form indicates less likely. To your points:
1. Verstappen is young, and relatively new to F1. He has adapted. Vettel has been here for a decade, and seems less willing to change. Can he? Probably. Will he? We’ll see.
2. I don’t know where your sources are saying that Ferrari have potential above Mercedes. Again, maybe, but I don’t think it is a fact. Rather, one source indicated that Ferrari’s front wing (and therefore general aero) design was more constrained than Mercedes. Saying that once Mercedes evened things out, which they’ve more than done by now, they would likely have more potential than Ferrari. That person could be wrong, too. Point is, I don’t think we have any definitive source as to which team has the larger potential.
What we do know, however, is that Mercedes have out developed Ferrari in-season the past two years, and Hamilton has out-driven Vettel. So, full circle, given the points gap, it seems to me that it will be difficult to change things. That’s all I was saying.
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
25th April 2019, 10:13
I think their aim will be for Sebastian to score more championship points than Charles, whether Max Verstappen is in front of one or both is front of one or both … regardless, so Ferrari are comfortable finish behind at least one car.
Witan
19th April 2019, 10:02
I’m not sure Mercedes plan on ‘a major upgrade’ as such at any point. Allison said before the season started that their core car will be adapted for each race, a new set of clothes for each party, and to do that they must improve incrementally as the season progresses..
Ad
19th April 2019, 11:23
I can guarantee that Mercedes will have a massive upgrade for Spain. They do it every year. Followed by a brand new engine for Canada.
Joe
19th April 2019, 12:09
Depends how much of their present aero 2 concept was brought forward. F are the team which ought to see the biggest redesign as they’ve barely changed their car since testing.
Animesh
20th April 2019, 19:50
It wasn’t brought forward. Mercedes have always maintained that the Testing 2 car which is racing now was the schedule to keep the manufacturing processes up to mark. I highly doubt they have brought it forward. Going by the rate of development already with the front wing, I think we might see a big revision by Spain, and not just by Mercedes….
RB13
23rd April 2019, 13:49
lmao have you even watched F1 recently?
Mercedes have an incredible rate of development and actually Allison said in that YouTube video that the reason there are so many fundamental differences from this years car to the last (much bigger side pods, very different packaging) is that this baseline gives them a lot more scope for development.
Of course they vary the details race to race but to try and say Mercedes of all teams are pretty much done with the car as it is, is faintly ludicrous.