Scuderia Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto admitted that he was disappointed after one team (Mercedes) blocked the sprint race (reverse grid plans):
“I am disappointed, we missed a good opportunity here. If you race the same Grand Prix twice, like in Austria and England, the risk is that the second race will be a repeat of the first one. I am very sorry, but we have all made compromises during this period. We thought of a different format, there was the idea of a reverse grid race and the FIA including 9 out of 10 teams agreed to it. It only took one team to block the proposal. A real shame for the fans and for our sport.”
Mattia Binotto also responded to Toto Wolff saying it was unusual from Ferrari to announce the drivers so soon: “I’m glad Mercedes always has opinions about us. I’m surprised they haven’t signed the contract with Hamilton yet too. We would have done it much sooner. If Seb went to Mercedes, I would be happy for him. He is a 4-time world champion and he deserves a top team. We decided this out of a sense of transparency towards Seb: he must think about his future, we could not delay the decision. Our choice was fair to him and gives us credit/honor.”
Speaking of performance, Mattia Binotto admitted that: “It will be a difficult start for us. The car will be the same that we had brought to Australia, because after that, there was the closure of the factories. Winter testing has not been satisfying.”
Leave a Reply