Scuderia Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto admitted that Formula 1’s ban on party modes may shake up the competitive, starting with the next round of the 2020 Formula One season, which will take place in Italy this week. As part of a push by the FIA to increase its confidence that none of the F1 teams are finding ways to exploit the rules, it wants teams to run in the same engine modes in both qualifying and the race from this weekend’s race at Monza.
This means that drivers will no longer be able to exploit the extra single-lap power boosts that have come from special qualifying engine settings.
While some are sceptical that the changes will make any difference – and could even make differences between manufacturers bigger in the race – Ferrari is not so sure that there will be status quo. For while the Italian outfit is bracing itself for a tough time at Monza, with its engine having lost power since last year, Binotto is not ruling out a different competitive order that could help his outfit.
Asked by Autosport what he expected for the Italian GP, Mattia Binotto explained: “It will be difficult as well. It’s a circuit where power performance is important, and certainly we are not the best.
“There will be a new technical directive in place for the qualifying regarding what we call the party modes, so eventually this may affect some of the teams. I will be curious to see how much and which teams. I think it will be interesting in that aspect. It is a circuit that is high power sensitive and eventually the balance of competitiveness in the car itself can change. It is also important to start ahead in a higher position on the grid because when you are in traffic, overall it is difficult to make the car work. So for Monza I think that technical directive could affect it the most.” – he concluded.
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