Mattia Binotto has already hailed his pair of drivers as the best line-up on the grid, but the Ferrari team boss also said his team managed to halve the qualification gap between them and the top teams from 2020 to 2021.
The team boss admitted that Ferrari, with 163 points after 11 races, has doubled its point accumulation in 2020 compared to this point in 2020 and has already overshadowed last year’s total points – although he was fighting for third place in the overall standings – but one additional metric that proves his squad have improved compared to last year.
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“When we look at the lap time, the pure car performance, let’s say qualification last year – because we are all at top performance … [seconds]. So 0.7 is still a distance not to be neglected, we are aware of that, but I think we have halved the distance to the best anyway.
“That’s encouraging because… we’re heading in the right direction. We’re third among the designers and tied with McLaren, who in turn are making some progress in this regard. “
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Ferrari has not only improved on the track, but also in the pits, as Binotto praised the consistency of his team in handling the wheel guns.
“As I said, I think it’s not just about performance; Our goal is to get even better in all areas in 2021, and if I assess all areas, we can also take the pit stop, for example, ”continued Binotto.
“During a pit stop, for example, I always say that a good pit stop under three seconds is green, even if the driver leaves the pit lane. Maybe three seems like a high number, but I always say that in strategy it’s important to be consistent, not just fast … [difficult] Situation.
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“If we look at the number of times we have been under three seconds in 2021: 84%. Last year? 48[%]. So here again to show that with regard to the team pit crew, the mechanics with regard to the pit stops, we have certainly improved our pit stop time and our pit stop quality … there is only one team that does better in percentage terms than us below three seconds “, he added.
With 163 points so far, Ferrari has everything to do to finish third in the championship as they are tied with the fourth McLaren ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix.
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