Scuderia Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto has expressed concerns regarding some rumours which emarged ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix weekend at the circuit de Spa-Francorchamps that Red Bull is planning to shortly introduce a significantly lighter chassis.
According to recent reports, Red Bull has been racing with a car that weighs a lot more than championship rival Ferrari’s F1-75 challenger so far in the 2022 Formula 1 season, the new lighter car will be modified to such a degree that it will need new FIA crash testing.
“We are getting a new chassis in the future,” runaway championship leader Max Verstappen said ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa – “I don’t know how much lighter it will be, but if it works it will help us.” – he added.
Scuderia Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto, however, has been openly wondering how Red Bull are able afford to make such a huge mid-season car development upgrade taking into consideration the limitations imposed by the budget cap.
“We could never afford to develop a lightweight chassis – or any other chassis – during the season because the budget doesn’t allow it,” said the Ferrari boss, when asked about Red Bull’s plans – “I would be very surprised if that were possible for other teams. You have to ask yourself whether the monitoring is sufficient. Unfortunately, very few people keep an eye on it at the FIA. That needs to improve for the future. It would be really bad if the championship were decided by the financial rules.” – Mattia Binotto continued.
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After the Belgian Grand Prix, which was easily won by Max Verstappen, despite the Dutchman started from P14, Charles Leclerc admitted that the deficit in the standings makes his championship aspirations “very difficult”, but at the same time, the Monegasque driver shied away from pointing the finger at the Maranello team’s strategies, which were once again questionable last weekend: “We just haven’t been fast enough this weekend and that’s the big problem more than anything. It’s starting to look very difficult, especially with the pace that Red Bull has shown this weekend. But I will keep my head down, try to concentrate race by race and try to do my best.” – Charles Leclerc concluded.
