Mattia Binotto: “Rule changes cost Ferrari 1.5 seconds”. New aerodynamics should facilitate overtaking.

Scuderia Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto admitted that the new rules cost the Maranello team about 1.5 seconds in terms of performance. New aerodynamics should facilitate overtaking in the 2019 Formula 1 season, especially simplified front wings which have caused a great loss of downforce, meaning that all Formula One teams will try to compensate and as much as possible.

When Ferrari first went into the wind tunnel, they expected a loss of 1.5 seconds per lap – “and that has been confirmed,” says Mattia Binotto. “Now the question is, how much of the 1.5 seconds we can win back in the development phase, and how much the other teams have recovered which will then be seen the track.”

These are interesting statements, because Red Bull had already announced in December in the form of motorsport consultant Helmut Marko that they had already reached last year’s level again: “We are already back on the stand Red Bull Ring / Spa 2018. However, we are 15 million poorer, “Marko had criticized the new regulations, as recently reported by Motorsport-Total.com

The first impressions can only be made after the testing sessions which takes place next week in Barcelona.

Both teams want to have a say in the fight for titles in the upcoming season. Especially on Ferrari and Mattia Binotto there will be huge pressure, given the fact that he has recently taken on the heavy inheritance as Ferrari team boss. But the Scuderia Team Principal emphasizes: “We had and still have a very flat hierarchy, meaning that everyone contributes to the goal, I will try to coordinate everything, but the real job is done by them (the rest of the team)”.

“I think that everyone knows exactly what he has to do,” Mattia Binotto continued. According to him, Ferrari aims to enjoy the upcoming season, more than in the last few years: “Several years we’ve been working all together, trying to improve step by step, season by season. The philosophy for next season certainly is try to enjoy [it]. That’s something that we were maybe missing in the past. Certainly we are enjoying winning, but I think you can simply enjoy by trying to be teammates, something which we are trying to consolidate, let’s say.” – the Scuderia Ferrari Team Principal concluded.