Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto believes they lost the championship to Mercedes when it made crucial design decisions about its car for the 2019 season.
The team ended pre-season testing on a high and went into the season with hopes of ending a 10-year championship drought. But their hopes were dashed at the first race where they finished almost a full minute behind the winning Mercedes.“I think we lost this last year when designing that car,” Binotto reflected, “because at the end we were not competitive at the start of the season. And there are reasons for it.”
Ferrari’s car was strongest at tracks power-sensitive tracks such as Monza and Spa, prompting claims the team’s design philosophy had favoured straight-line speed at the expense of peak downforce. The latter was an obvious strength for Mercedes throughout 2019.
“Our design was not as good as our main competitors,” Binotto admitted. “So I think that’s it.”
The team has also been through a restructuring process following Binotto’s installation as team principal in place of Maurizio Arrivabene at the start of the season. Former chief designer Simone Resta, who moved to Alfa Romeo last year, returned to the team last month.
“It has been an intense season,” said Binotto. “A lot to do. We restructured, reorganised the team.
“But I think in the meantime we always tried to address and improve the car and we simply did it through the season at least on some level. And now the season’s over we are going on the next one.”
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
2019 F1 season
- Crying in the Melbourne car park at 2019 grand prix was my career low – Ocon
- McLaren Racing reports reduced £71 million loss in 2019
- Kvyat: Hockenheim podium last year was “my biggest achievement” so far
- How the FIA’s new encrypted fuel flow meter targets Ferrari’s suspected ‘aliasing’ trick
- “He smashed my office door”: 23 must-see moments from ‘Drive to Survive’ season two
Biskit Boy (@sean-p-newmanlive-co-uk)
4th December 2019, 12:20
Yes, they should have designed a Mercedes.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
4th December 2019, 14:04
They need their pitcrew and strategist too.
And Lewis Hamilton.
Itd be easier for them to buy Mercedes outright.
Only Facts!
4th December 2019, 12:24
Not exactly true in my opinion. Had them won at all venues suitable to their car, the last races would be different.
They threw away a lot of points, due to mechanical failures (one for Leclerc when leading, other for Vettel), due to strategy mistakes, like telling Leclerc to scrap his race and hold the pack until Vettel arrives.
Others like letting Leclerc out of Q3 in Monaco, and some unfortunate pit stop calls.
If things were different, Hamilton and Mercedes would be under pressure at the end of the season, and that’s when you have to risk more.
You can win a championship even if you don’t have the dominant car, by being consistently in the points.
MrBoerns (@mrboerns)
4th December 2019, 12:29
Nah i don’t see it. Even if they had taken 1-2s at every single venue were they had the slimmest of chances, there weren’t enough of those to beat merc, not by a long shot.
Question is really, when did they lose the 2020 championship?
hobo (@hobo)
4th December 2019, 14:52
Agreeing with @mrboerns here. That kind of assumption requires that each team excel at “their” tracks, without error, without reliability issue, etc. That is extremely rare.
Aside from that, even if you give Leclerc his Bahrain win that his engine issue lost him Merc would have had four 1-2 finishes in the first five races. Considering Ferrari had a single 1-2 (Singapore) and two total double podiums (Sing., Canada) the entire season, it requires a LOT more ifs, ands, ors to get you to somewhere with Ferrari close to Mercedes.
Such was Mercedes lead, they could have skipped the last 4 races, and a Ferrari 1-2 in all four wouldn’t have changed anything. A 231pt swing (maths!) wouldn’t have mattered.
Only Facts!
4th December 2019, 19:48
@hobo and @mrboerns You’re fast readers, aren’t you? Read again, my point is that is easier when you’re walking in the park. By making too many mistakes, Ferrari gave Mercedes room to play on the safe side.
When challenged, like in Brazil, Mercedes and Hamilton can make mistakes. As they did. The sum of your mistakes should not exceed your good points. That’s your math!
MrBoerns (@mrboerns)
4th December 2019, 22:11
Oh i absolutely understand what you are trying to say, i just don’t buy into it as Mercedes had so much in hand over their rivals more often than not that actually Ferraris incapability for all its associated frustrations really didn’t come into it.
anon
4th December 2019, 19:59
@hobo, with regards to the first five races, some would argue that Baku was another wasted opportunity for Ferrari, and for Leclerc in particular, given the way he’d dominated that weekend but ended up having to start down the field after his crash in qualifying. China saw Ferrari effectively throw away a place for Leclerc, allowing Verstappen ahead due to the way in which they mismanaged the switch between their two drivers.
As for Australia, the indication was that Ferrari badly misjudged their cooling requirements and they were having to heavily manage their pace (the radio transmissions confirming that their drivers had to turn the engines right down – the highest engine mode they used that weekend seems to have been the mode that normally would have been their default race mode, and most of the time they had the engines on their lowest power modes to manage the engine temps).
It’s not just about excelling where you can – it’s about minimising the potential losses that you might take at venues where you might be weaker, minimising the opportunities your opponents have to build a lead. That is what Mercedes’s strength has been, and something Ferrari were poor at – their damage mitigation was poor and, in a number of instances, they made the situation worse for themselves than it needed to be.
Now, this year the gap might have been too much, but their performance this season suggests that, even if they had a car that was on par, or perhaps even superior, they don’t seem to know how to use it to greatest effect.
hobo (@hobo)
16th December 2019, 13:56
@anon – A lot of the examples you have provided get to my point. Specifically, that kind of assumption requires that each team excel at “their” tracks, without error, without reliability issue, etc. That is extremely rare. So even if someone made an argument for Baku (long straights) or other tracks being Ferrari tracks, getting everything right on those weekends is still difficult.
And my point about a single 1-2 and only two double podiums for Ferrari was aligned with what you say, which is that Merc had an advantage more often than not. Whether that was through outright speed, better tire wear, better strategy, better reliability, or some combination.
I never bought into the Ferrari first week of preseason testing hype. And I specifically called the season for Merc after the first five races (not a big leap there). Hoping 2020 proves a bit different, but concerned given the lead Merc ended this year with.
erikje
4th December 2019, 18:51
still Mercedes had the fastest car overall and it shows in the results.
Without a winning car on most tracks you never will win the championship.
formevic (@formevic)
4th December 2019, 12:43
This is a clear example of how to shift responsibilities from people to things. 2019 ferrari drama was in order: pitwall (strategy and communication), drivers mistates (vet), pit-crew.
formevic (@formevic)
4th December 2019, 12:44
*mistakes
Matteo (@m-bagattini)
4th December 2019, 13:09
@formevic because cars are designed by AIs nowadays
RB13
4th December 2019, 12:43
Nope. You lost it through poor operations and strategy, poor QC and reliability and backing the wrong horse from race 1 (SV)
formevic (@formevic)
4th December 2019, 12:44
*mistakes
Mashiat (@mashiat)
4th December 2019, 12:51
Besides Bahrain, was there actually really a single race (not qualifying) all season where the Ferrari was decisively quicker? In Spa and Monza, Mercedes was probably quicker on Sunday, and it was also the case in Canada. The Ferrari has decent outright speed, but is bad in race trim and uses up its tyres much quicker. And that, like Binotto says, is down to the design philosophy. The Ferrari strategists need serious questions asked of them, but swap the strategists from Mercedes and Ferrari, and I still think Mercedes wins both titles.
Dhiraj kumar thapa
4th December 2019, 13:04
Singapore
Mashiat (@mashiat)
5th December 2019, 8:35
We can’t say for certain that the Ferrari was decisively quicker in Singapore as the cars were so bunched up the whole time. But towards the end of the 1st stint, when everybody was pushing, Hamilton was quicker than both Ferraris. It was only then Mercedes’ strategy that cost him the win.
David BR (@david-br)
5th December 2019, 12:39
@mashiat Hamilton is a rogue factor in these calculations though. If he was setting up the car for races, then using all his skill to keep the tyres going better than other drivers, then Hamilton is bound to be faster and perhaps fastest in the race. That doesn’t mean the car was. Same applies to other venues.
MG1982 (@mg1982)
4th December 2019, 14:21
+1. My feelings completely. That’s why, for example, I don’t think their strategies weren’t as poor as the flak they got may indicate. You can come up with any strategy you want, have the best driver in the world, if the car has a significant weakness, in most cases you’ll lose. Also, this was yet another year when Mercedes was better in the reliability department.
Esploratore (@esploratore)
4th December 2019, 14:23
Yes, agree, mercedes was by far superior, it was the closest to the dominant 3 years of the last 3 years, followed by 2017 and 2018.
hobo (@hobo)
4th December 2019, 14:53
@esploratore – Very good point. This year was closer to 2014-16. Which is a bit scary.
Matteo (@m-bagattini)
4th December 2019, 13:08
ITT: people who would have blamed the car’s philosophy if he blamed the mistakes
ColdFly (@)
4th December 2019, 13:08
Binotto as decisive Team Principal should fire the person who was Chief Technical Director when designing the 2019 car.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
4th December 2019, 13:20
He’s been reassigned per the Peter Principle, @coldfly ;)
ADUB SMALLBLOCK (@waptraveler)
4th December 2019, 13:29
It’s never “one thing”. To all those that say Ferrari lost the race due to poor operations/strategy calls, etc – Sure that hurt and MAY have cost them the championship, if they had a car that was competitive at the start of the season. The car was demonstrably slower (over a lap) than the Mercedes. Slow car – not competitive, with a fast car, the other items probably would have lost them the championship.
On the positive side, if Ferrari took a poor design, and made it fast, that may give them an edge in the future in how they develop a car.
erikje
4th December 2019, 18:55
That’s what they did, cheating
Ivan Papalezov (@cordoba16vt)
4th December 2019, 13:44
FERRARI scored 67 points less in 2019 compared to 2018 season, in my eyes due to lack of subordination to the team of both drivers. Had they played the fair game on track , and taking into account the 7 poles of CL , they should have done much much better . Scuderia looks lost in its own red mist and the heat is too much, eversince they sold their ice to Sauber .
MG1982 (@mg1982)
4th December 2019, 14:48
Yes, but is not enough to be even remotely a serious threat in any of the champs. Having RAI in the team in 2019, some of their PPs and wins would have went to Mercedes. At least for this year, having LEC on-board was a better move.
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
4th December 2019, 13:57
I believe that aswell. Then they were unable to execute strategy, because all strategies are poor when you are slow on track.
Seb was overdriving the car, crashing every other race and Leclerc was often only fast in Quali.
When things hhooked up it was awesome.
lfnorthy
4th December 2019, 15:01
Binotto, master of stating the obvious. Thats the same reason all the teams bar Mercedes didnt win the championship
Yaru (@yaru)
4th December 2019, 15:32
Having the strongest car doesnt mean squat if they keep crashing into each other.
F1oSaurus (@)
4th December 2019, 16:08
Or crashing into non-team mates or simply spin off track for that matter.
F1oSaurus (@)
4th December 2019, 16:34
True, in 2017 and 2018 a better racing driver would have have been able to take the WDC with the Ferrari. Vettel’s many blunders (5 in 2017 and 7 in 2018) clearly cost them those championships. The car was fine really. Especially in 2018 it was clearly faster over the whole season (Vettel made it look bad, but it was faster).
This year I think even Hamilton, Verstappen, Alonso or Ricciardo would not have been able to become WDC with that car though. Unless Vettel was driving for Mercedes perhaps, but then Bottas would have likely taken the title.
The car was doing fine in pre-season testing though and it was by far superior in Bahrain (second race). So there was clearly more potential in the Ferrari from the start of the season. It’s mostly that their drivers plus engineers were unable to unlock it. Who knows a better driver could have done more to get the setup issues straightened out much sooner. Who knows what would have been possible then.
Either way, it’s still an utter embarassment that both Ferrari drivers finished behind Verstappen in the drivers championship. That again is due to the ridiculous amount of driver errors that especially Vettel keeps racking up, but also Leclerc makes too many mistakes, but these were mostly in quali and he improved in that regard later in the season.
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
4th December 2019, 17:22
As others have said, blaming the chassis is a cheap shot. Major system failures are accompanied by minor system failures. A “flawed car design”, while important, is a minor system failure, so to are some of the strategy calls minor system failures. The return of former chief designer Simone Resta from Alfa Romeo sounds to me like a good decision, however this needs to be accompanied by a revision of how the strategic decisions are made, and indeed some of the other elements around the car and a Grand Prix need “upgrading” too.
I suspect that if Daniel Ricciardo had stayed at Red Bull then Ferrari would have been even further behind Mercedes on the WCC table, maybe even behind Red Bull as well.
Improving the car design alone isn’t enough to put Ferrari in World Constructors’ Championship contention.
cristianro
4th December 2019, 18:21
when you trail and hurt on wins of course mistakes are more likely to come. Its normal!! hope Ferrari will re-build the car for 2020 the right way to be able to compete with RB and MB.
Kenny Schachat (@partofthepuzzle)
4th December 2019, 19:38
Note: this is written as a Ferrari fan. It sucks but it’s the way it is, IMO
I think Binotto is an improvement over Arrivabene (not saying much!) but IMO, he’s not the strong and decisive leader that Ferrari so badly needs. I’m NOT advocating a return to the fear and loathing days of Montezemolo but rather someone like Brawn. It’s hard to imagine that Brawn would have put up with the stupid on-track bickering and gaffs that plagued Ferrari this year. I think a strong leader would also have found a way to manage and turn around Vettel’s obvious problem with mistakes, etc.
Re: the car design issues: even Ferrari are going to have trouble competing with the massive and well oiled Mercedes juggernaut. Merc has hundreds more tech staffers, more money and a *current* blueprint for success that they keep building on. Add Toto Wolff’s excellent leadership skills. Oh and one the greatest drivers in F1 history on the top of that and Mercedes are simply not going to be beaten. Yes, it’s boring as hell. IMO, the best we can do is to appreciate mastery in action.
Jay Menon (@jaymenon10)
5th December 2019, 1:04
@partofthepuzzle
A better team leader and driver would have resulted in Ferrari running Mercedes a lot closer. I’ve mentioned a few times, Ferrari appear to be rudderless, effectively in a power vacuum. Ferrari are an organisation that have been ruled by strong willed dictators for all of its existence (Old Man-LdM-Marchionne), who now find themselves being run by “normal people”. I feel that they don’t necessarily know how to operate in this setting.
Mattia Binotto is a nice guy, but being nice doesn’t win you championships. Yes, he is an improvement from Arrivabene, who was nothing more than a figurehead who was Marchionne’s puppet. Perhaps as the new landscape matures, things will get better, Binotto might even become a successful team boss.
On the driver front, lets be honest, if Marchionne or any of his predecessors were in charge, Vettel would have been asked to take time off, or they would have potentially bought his contract off. His performances have been getting bad to worst. His contract will not be renewed next year, and the story will be that he has decided to retire in his own volition. If Lewis doesn’t go to Ferrari (highly doubt he would), its got to be Danny Ric
Jim from US (@jimfromus)
5th December 2019, 1:32
I completely disagree. Blaming the car, bails out race management and the drivers. Their bricks. They continuously set their cars to qualify on top even though week after week Mercedes sets their cars to perform on race day. Mercedes gets it. Red Bull gets it.
I will say that Mercedes, especially Hamilton’s car, had extraordinary luck this season and there was no way anyone could have beaten him this year but Ferrari should have been able to challenge Bottas this season.
Wellbalanced
5th December 2019, 9:36
Strikingly, Ferrari came second in the Constructors Championship, yet neither driver placed within the top three in the Drivers Championship.
In addition to design and operational flaws, two top drivers taking points off each other was also a problem (not shared by Mercedes or Red Bull).
David BR (@david-br)
5th December 2019, 12:42
Ferrari lost the championship when they failed to develop a car significantly better than the Mercedes to compensate for their senior driver’s erratic performance.
Leroy (@g-funk)
5th December 2019, 17:41
They had to design a car that was fast on the straights at the expense of slow corners (where Merc and Red Bull consistently cleaned Ferrari’s clock) because their chosen number 1 driver (Vettel) can’t make any passes on competitive cars in the corners without crashing into them. He needed straight line speed along with DRS assistance to have any shot, given his sloppy race craft. Merc and Red Bull could design a car that was fast in the corners because their number 1 drivers are able to make passes for position there. Now that Ferrari know that Leclerc is a quicker shoe and is less prone to brain fade (not totally free though) it will be interesting if their design philosophy changes for this season or they concentrate on 2021.