Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Bahrain International Circuit, 2019

Ferrari faster than rivals because of “different engine modes” – Binotto

2019 Bahrain Grand Prix

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Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto says the team’s advantage over its rivals in practice was down to them running different engine modes.

However he admitted the team has seen positives outcomes from the changes made to its car to address its lack of performance in Australia.

“Today we focused on ourselves and our problems and the modifications we made after Australia, and to react and address the issues that we had,” Binotto told Racefans and other media in Bahrain.

He said the team’s 0.6 second margin over closest rival Mercedes is “misleading” and they expect “certainly a more tough battle” in qualifying on Saturday.

“The others will be very strong tomorrow,” said Binotto. “I think it’s quite obvious, you may see the GPS data, the speed on the straight, we were certainly pushing different engine modes compared to what the others were doing today. So I’m expecting a very tough battle tomorrow.

“But I think [what’s] more important is to stay focused on ourselves. We improved our situation after Australia. This is quite a different track so let’s say that we do not at least have to date the problem we suffered in Australia thanks, yes, to the track, and also thanks to modifications we made.”

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11 comments on “Ferrari faster than rivals because of “different engine modes” – Binotto”

  1. joe pineapples
    29th March 2019, 19:24

    Anyone else already fed up of all the team rhetoric? (and we’re only on the second weekend).

    1. @joe pineapples Yes, LOL.

    2. Ditto. Second race weekend and the weekend per se hasn’t even started.

    3. I dunno it’s part of the show in my opinion and of its elegant and glamorous façade.

    4. petebaldwin (@)
      29th March 2019, 20:55

      I was fed up with it 3 years ago… There is no other sport on the planet where individuals/teams constantly say their rivals are better than them when they aren’t.

  2. Does anyone think that Mercedes is only half a second ahead of Renault,mclaren, haas, and toro Rosso.

    1. Ofc not, mercedes is the only team that has potential to be half a second quicker than ferrari and red bull at most tracks, let alone midfield!

    2. Exactly. If you look at other runs, it looks as if merc has .4 on Ferrari and RB are there on s2.

  3. It’s painfully obvious f1 teams think us fans are stupid. First “party mode” , now this. WE KNOW HOW FUEL INJECTION WORKS, for the love of god stop treating us like Indycar fans…

  4. It’s painfully obvious f1 teams think us fans are stupid. First “party mode” , now this. WE KNOW HOW FUEL INJECTION WORKS, for the love of god stop treating us like Indycar fans…

  5. BlackJackFan
    30th March 2019, 3:51

    Looks to me VET/Fer. are going for the VET/RBR tactic: qualify on the front row (if you can call this idiotic staggered grid a “row”, then turn the engine down to last the race, while holding the others up…
    “ContentiousComment”

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