Mattia Binotto hails degree of variation on this year’s Formula 1 grid. Mattia Binotto hails degree of variation on this year's F1 grid.

Scuderia Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto admitted that it is “incredible” to see the so many different ways in which Formula 1 teams interpreted the rules and regulations for the 2022 Formula 1 championship, explaining that the Maranello team is closely monitoring the rivals’ designs and could seek to draw inspiration from others’ approaches.

The new rules, which imply stricter limits on bodywork, have seen teams pursue very different design philosophies in order to try to extract the maximum performance from their new challengers:

“There are certainly good ideas from the other cars, and it’s quite incredible how different the shapes are from one car to another” – Mattia Binotto explained, at the end of the first pre-season testing session in Spain – “Everybody is performing well. So now, we will certainly try to pick a few ideas, try to simulate or test them, and let’s see, that may bring some more performance to our research as well.” – he added.

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At the same time, Mattia Binotto also confirmed that Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were satisfied with the first impressions and feeling of the F1-75 car after the three days in Barcelona. The Maranello team completed more laps than any other team in the first pre-season testing session and encountered no big reliability problems, which drew the attention of the rest of the paddock. Charles Leclerc’s best lap time of 1:19.689 was slower than the best times set by Mercedes, Red Bull and McLaren, but Charles was running on harder tyres and set his time on the third tour of a 17-lap stint, which would indicate that the Ferrari car was heavier at the start of that run.

“The basic feedback [from Leclerc and Sainz] is that the car is responding well in terms of driving balance and drivability, so I think that’s a good baseline. But it’s still a very, very long championship, and I’m expecting our competitors to be very, very strong.” – Scuderia Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto concluded.