Scuderia Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto talks about the recent driver changes and the preparations for the first race of the 2020 Formula 1 season, which is expected to take plac at the beginning of July, in Austria. The Ferrari boss also addresses other aspects such as the Maranello team’s future as the new annual spending cap will be set at $145m:
“I believe that having decided today, with transparency and clarity, shows maturity. I think it was right for him and for us to do it. Only Seb knows what he will do in the future: he is a great driver and he will know how to make the best choice. Seb raced 6 years in Ferrari, he has Ferrari in his heart. Then when it comes to a separation it is not all obvious, but the relationship has remained good and the reasoning behind this change has been understood. I expect that Seb will do very well this year, because he is a great professional and he cares a lot. From our side we will have to guarantee him the ideal single-seater to be able to do the best. Seb’s future? I think he has a lot of passion for this sport. He will want to race, even though he’ll have to do a lot of thinking. We’re looking at a long-standing project.” – the Ferrari boss added.
“We had time in this period to reflect, to ponder and to reach this conclusion: we are happy with the choice. In this period the world has changed and we have to look in a different way at the future of F1. For us it represents a bet and we are happy with this challenge. We want to open a cycle. The road will be difficult, but the choice to focus on young people also goes in this direction: not only for the drivers, but also for the mechanics. There is a new challenge that we must all embrace and we believe we have found the right person to complete our team. Carlos Sainz is a young driver. There hasn’t been such a young driver pairing in Ferrari since 50 years. Sainz is a very nice, intelligent boy with a lot of team spirit. He is a hard worker and having him alongside Charles will be useful: in these 5 seasons he has done well, bringing the car almost always to the finish line and giving many points to his team.” – Mattia Binotto explained.
“As Ferrari we feel a strong social responsibility towards our employees and we care about their future, so we are also looking at other alternatives beyond Formula 1, such as Indy Car for example and we will try to make the best choice In recent weeks there has been a lot of discussion about cutting the budget cup. We have come to a reduction of 145 million and it is a reduction that leads us to review our organization. By regulation we all had to stop [development]. Today we started again with the engines, from Thursday also the chassis engineers will return and therefore the car will be developed again. From now until 5 July there will be little time to correct the defects, so the car in Austria will be almost the same as the one for Australia. Then for the third race we will see to make more accurate changes.”
Mattia Binotto about Antonio Giovinazzi: “Antonio is a boy I really respect. Last year he made his first season in F1. To move to Ferrari after a year, requires too much responsibility. We are counting on his growth. He is part of our plans, but he still has to gain experience in F1.”
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