Scuderia Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto comments and impressions on the last day of pre-season testing session, with just two weeks ahead of the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne:
Mattia Binotto: “I can confirm that I am not as optimistic as I was last year and our car is not the fastest. Having said that, the car seems to be reliable and the season is long…”
“The drag is penalizing top speed. We are not pushing the engine to the maximum because we did not want to compromise our reliability. It is difficult to understand what happens in testing and Melbourne is also a practical track. You’ll need 2/3 races. If I have to give a grade for testing, we understood many things: I would say 8. But if I have to evaluate the whole winter I give it a 6.”
“We must balance the development of the 2020 car with the study of the 2021 car. The season has to start yet and we cannot afford to compromise it. Of course, if things get bad after a few races we could bet on 2021…”
“We are better on race pace than on qualifying performance. Yesterday the track was slower than today. Sebastian wasn’t particularly happy with the balance, but today I think things are going better! Today in the morning we did qualifying simulation and in the afternoon a race simulation. We bring home more data that will be useful to us. We are ready as a team but we are not at the level to win a race right now..”
Binotto about the Corona Virus: “F1 is talking to the Australian authorities. It is an evolving situation but the idea is that you will race in Australia.”
