Scuderia Ferrari is looking very strong on the streets of Monte Carlo ahead of the 2021 Monaco Grand Prix, but at the same time preparing for next season is “more important” according to Italian side’s team principal Mattia Binotto.
Monaco speed or not, the Maranello team appears to be in the running for third place at best this year – the last season of the current era before sweeping new regulations come into force.
“Third place? We’ll see at the end of the season,” Mattia Binotto said, as reported by La Gazzetta dello Sport. “For us, 2022 is more important.”
Some might argue that every season is equally important, especially for top teams like Mercedes and Red Bull who are locked in a close title battle.
However, Mercedes’ Toto Wolff revealed in Monaco that the championship leading team will only add “tiny” upgrades to its 2021 car for the rest of the season.
Mattia Binotto agrees that is the best approach.
“This is a singular championship,” he explained, “while the next one can also affect the seasons to come after that as the new rules will last for many years. So we cannot start out with a performance deficit. It is therefore inevitable that 2022 will be our priority.” – he explained.
Indeed, he says the 2022 Ferrari is already “in an advanced design phase. By the end of the summer, the chassis drawings will be completed,” said Binotto. “Right now we are making important choices on the aerodynamic configuration and then we will move on to the details. There will also be a major evolution of the power unit, adapting it to ecological fuels, knowing that it will be frozen for three years,” the Italian continued – “So we are totally focused on the 2022 car, in line with our schedule. It is a completely different car from the current one and we cannot afford to lose even a week of development. I would be surprised if other teams like Mercedes and Red Bull are also wasting precious time to aim just for victory in this world championship” – the Ferrari boss concluded.
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