Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Red Bull Ring, 2020

Seventh and 11th “certainly not the grid position Ferrari should have” – CEO

2020 F1 season

Posted on

| Written by

Ferrari CEO Louis Camilleri said the team needs to “improve on all fronts” following their disappointing start to the season in Austria last weekend.

While Charles Leclerc salvaged second place from the race, qualifying exposed the car’s shortcomings, leaving him seventh on the grid. Sebastian Vettel failed to make the cut for Q3 and lined up 11th.

“This is certainly not the grid position that a team like Ferrari should have and we have to respond immediately,” said Camilleri. “It’s clear that we have to improve on all fronts.”

Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto said before the race weekend the team will bring an extensive upgrade package for the Hungarian Grand Prix next week.

“The only solution is to react and I’m pleased by the immediate reaction and the work that Mattia and all his team are putting in at every level,” said Camilleri.

“This is not just to bring to the track today what was scheduled to be ready tomorrow, but also to speed up the programme of development for the coming races. This is the response of a united team which is rolling up its sleeves and facing the problems head on, without crying about it.

“We are at the start of a new cycle with a long-term plan. Any setbacks will certainly not change our chosen course and I have any confidence in Mattia and the team in addressing our shortcomings.”

Camilleri praised Leclerc’s recovery drive to an unexpected podium finish. “Charles put on a show yesterday in Austria, both in his ability to see the opportunities that came his way in the latter stages and, above all, in his defence when he was under attack from quicker cars in terms of pure speed. He confirmed yet again his talent and determination to defend the colours of the Scuderia, even if there was no need of any further proof.”

“It was a pity for Sebastian who couldn’t show his best performance because he was uncomfortable with the balance of the car.”

“Now we are analysing the data to understand the reasons why,” he added. “We know there’s lots of work to do.”

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

2020 F1 season

Browse all 2020 F1 season articles

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

17 comments on “Seventh and 11th “certainly not the grid position Ferrari should have” – CEO”

  1. Ferrari pushing Hard to ready Hungary aero update for Styrian GP
    “Ferrari says it has hope of bringing at least some – if not all – of its aerodynamic upgrade package one race early, so in Austria for the next race. Was originally scheduled for Hungary”
    “Aside from wanting a quicker car, the aim of getting the parts to Austria is “because it will be possible to do a true back-to-back on every upgrade”

  2. Austria was an unusual showing from Ferrari. Pit stops, strategy and reliability were all great.
    Only the car itself underperfromed.

    1. @carbon_fibre thanks, you made my day.

    2. @carbon_fibre Reminds me of when Alonso commented on McLaren-Honda’s “speed”

      Asked whether he had been able to tackle the Circuit de Catalunya’s turn three without lifting, Alonso replied: “For us not only turn three, for us maybe all the corners are flat.”

    3. Reminds me of the Alonso era at Ferrari… Slow car.. but operationally and driver performance maximised.

  3. If Ferrari were cheating in regards to the suspicions of exceeding the maximum fuel flow rates, and we don’t know for sure that they were, then it could be the car was always inferior, but that this was masked by the engine being more powerful than their competitors’ engines. One way this would present itself would be to make the Ferrari cars appear better performing than the average.
    Now, with dual fuel flow meters being installed in every car, their cars appear to be more average than they were before. So getting 7th and 11th in Qualifying shouldn’t have been unexpected. It could be the new aero-package will push Ferrari up to the front of the starting grid, but it could also be Ferrari are really a midfield team, so they will continue to have typical midfield results where getting to the front of the starting grid is a consequence of superior aerodynamics and driver skill.

    1. @drycrust makes sense, definitely some truth in it, but they are also slower than the sauber on the straights.

      1. Ferrari went 180 ob their low downforce high engine power concept.

        Now they have high downforce and drag, and low power. A nightmare on this circuit, and impossible to overtake with.

        Meanwhile all Mercedes engines were quite superb, while factory team also has all of the usual brilliance.

        Seb complained of poor balance, Leclerc in his usual young Schumacher style did not get that memo and finished on the podium!!! With a P7 car.

        Car really is not all terrible, the worst is the engine defficiency. I would love to see the estimate teams have on their total power.

        My crude over the thumb estimate is around 50hp down from last year. That would make them close to Renault.

        1. @jureo mind you, Leclerc’s position relied on Verstappen and Albon falling by the wayside and Hamilton being penalised, plus a late safety car then closing the field back up to bring him within reach of others.

          Whilst you say the car is “not all terrible”, there doesn’t seem to be an area where the SF1000 could be considered to be that exceptional either. It’s slow in a straight line, but it was also off the pace in the corners given Binotto was suggesting the car was 0.3s off in the corners – which is not exactly promising when the circuit effectively only had eight corners of note for an F1 car.

          Even if the overall aero philosophy has shifted towards a higher downforce package at the expense of greater drag, it’s cornering performance is not class leading either. The overall handling balance does not look particularly great either, particularly on higher fuel – Leclerc was not really catching Norris or Perez in the opening laps of the race – and was perhaps flattered by the use of the softer compound tyres due to that late pit stop, as the additional mechanical grip may have masked some of the handling issues.

  4. Is it possible Renault have a better engine than Ferrari

    1. I think, they are close now.

  5. Lecler mus be a future champion, with Ferrari or another team. He follow Schumacher, Vettel and Hamilton great champions.

    1. Leclerc is really a lot like Benneton Schumacher.

      Impossible to match for speed by any teammate, even if Ferrari is somewhat of a dog.

  6. CEO is saying all the right political words, but I see zero hope this Ferrari team winning any championships.

    Not while Mercedes is around.

    Without luck and Leclerc brilliance they would be around p7. Decent midfield but not even as fast as racing point or McLaren.

  7. I think Ferrari shouldn’t waste resources in developing a new aero kit or whatever… they’ll never be as good Red Bull or Mercedes in that department.

    They should just invest all their time and money in seeing how to cheat the FIA’s latest sensor and recover some of that lost engine performance.

  8. As a Ferrari fan it is great to hear the CEO giving his comments and thoughts on the F1 team, hopefully we hear more from him in future and he takes the spotlight away from Binotto to focus on getting the car and the team back on top.
    Just like Montezemolo and Marchionnne (R.I.P) before him hopefully he’s more trackside playing the political games and offering criticism and encouragement to the team indirectly through the media.

Comments are closed.