Ferrari believes it is too early to think of managing F1 championship lead. Ferrari refute championship management claim.

Scuderia Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto has refuted claims that the Italian side’s important early points advantage as a result of the impressive win in the 2022 Australian Grand Prix will give Ferrari the possibility of managing the F1 title race this campaign.

The Maranello team will now focuse on the first race in Italy, the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, which takes place at the Imola circuit in two weeks’ time with a 39-point advantage over second-placed Mercedes while its closest rival in terms of performance based on what could be seen in this start of the 2022 F1 season (Red Bull) is a further 10 points back.

Charles Leclerc leads the drivers’ championship by 34 points from George Russell but, even more importantly, has a 46-point advantage over 2021 Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen after the Dutch suffered two DNFs in the first three events of the current championship.

In an interview for Sky Sports after the 2022 Australian Grand Prix, Mattia Binotto explained:

“Today was a great satisfaction. We know that every single race can be different but at least let’s enjoy today. I think teamwork, engineering, set-up, drivers, all good. The start of the weekend was not easy, the set-up of the car was not balanced, Charles had to get up to speed but I think he worked well through the weekend, he made the fastest lap in the race and a fantastic win.” – he said.

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When asked whether the Maranallo team can now afford to manage the cushion given the standings, he explained: “We are not managing the championship. It’s only three races. We stay focused on every single race and that is the way we will approach. That one was great. In all truth, to do a good weekend and to win you need to be perfect. That was the case in Bahrain, because it was always very tight. We were not perfect in Jeddah and we lost. Here, again we have had a great weekend and that is how we need to approach it.” – the Ferrari boss concluded.