Scuderia Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto shares his thoughts on what F1 rivals Red Bull have been working on in terms of development updates in a bid to improve their performance and to reduce weight.
The new generation of Formula 1 challengers are heavier than ever in 2022, as the minimum weight has been set at 798kg because of the design based on the ground effect aerodynamics given the new rules and regulations introduced by Formula 1 for the current championship.
The Maranello team, alongside with Red Bull, were the ones who started the new campaign best, with Red Bull and Scuderia Ferrari fighting on equal terms in the first part of the season, as the F1-75 car even proved to have the edge at most races in the first half.
The 2022 F1 campaign began in the best way possible for the Italian side, with Charles Leclerc winning the Bahrain Grand Prix and Carlos Sainz completing a memorable one-two finish at the Bahrain International Circuit, while the Monegasque went on to secure another race win in the Australian Grand Prix, the third round of the championship.
A win in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix for Red Bull and Max Verstappen was sandwiched in between those two rounds, which gave the impression of a great battle between the Italian and Austrian teams for the 2022 Formula 1 titles. Sadly, Scuderia Ferrari missed out on several opportunities to win, due to power unit reliability problems and some poor strategical decisions made by the Ferrari pitwall at times, as was the case in Monaco or Hungary.
While the Maranello team was not able to capitalise on their amazing qualifying pace, Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez won 12 of the 16 races between them, with 11 going the way of the Dutchman, who has now secured the 2022 Formula 1 title: Verstappen has a solid 116-point advantage over Charles Leclerc ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix, with just six races until the end of the season.
Mistakes have not been the decisive factor for Ferrari’s downfall in the last few races, after the summer break. As the season progressed, Red Bull proved to gradually have the fastest car and Mattia Binotto is now looking to understand their gains and find solutions to improve for the next season:
“In the last few races, the performance of the Red Bull has been better than ours.” – the Ferrari boss admitted – “Not in qualifying, because in quali we still have good pace, so we can see the pure performance is still there. But then in the race pace, we are suffering tyre degradation and in that respect, the Red Bull is a better car. They have been capable of developing their car for a better balance but certainly as well, for a better car in terms of tyre degradation that we haven’t. The reason is something we are looking at because we need to address it, if not for this season then certainly for the next.”
Show your support for Scuderia Ferrari with official merchandise collection from Puma! Enter the online Puma Store and shop securely! And get your F1 tickets for every race with VIP hospitality and unparalleled insider access. Click here for the best offers to support Charles and Carlos from the track!
The Ferrari boss admitted to not being sure whether Red Bull have made minimum weight yet, or if they are still getting there, while also having to take into consideration the limitations imposed by the budget cap, which seems to gave prevented them from introducing a lighter chassis this year:
“I don’t know what they are doing, where they are with the weight. I can only see what I read on the internet and not much more than that, so the comparison is certainly not the right comparison. Having said that, if they would have been overweight, certainly there is potential that if you are attacking it, it is giving you a car performance advantage. But in terms of the minimum weight, maybe they do not have any more that type of development that is possible.” – Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto concluded.
Ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix, Red Bull lead Ferrari by 139 points in the Constructors’ Standings, as the Maranello team will now be more focusing on defending second place against Mercedes, who is just 35 further back.
Leave a Reply