Binotto says Ferrari’s Paul Ricard struggles stem from issues that “should have been addressed two years ago”.

After a “very strenuous and difficult” French Grand Prix, Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto admitted that the team’s disastrous result – with Carlos Sainz in P11 and Charles Leclerc in P16 – was not entirely unexpected, given the conditions at Paul Ricard Weakness that Ferrari has been aware of for several years, said Binotto.

The French Grand Prix had started well for Ferrari, with Sainz and Leclerc starting in 5th and 7th place on the grid. But even though both drivers were able to hold their positions in their first few stints, the switch to hard tires proved disastrous for both of them. Sainz and Leclerc slipped further and further in the course of their races – Leclerc ended up switching to a two-stop after a failed attempt on 16th.

READ MORE: “We went backwards” – Sainz and Leclerc are shocked by lack of pace as Ferrari fails to score in France

“I don’t have much to say,” said Binotto after the Grand Prix. “A very exhausting and difficult race for us today. We weren’t able to get the tires to run the way we should have and I think our performance really had problems with the tires.

“I don’t think it reflects the real pace of the car or the performance itself, but it’s something we need to learn and address, not in the immediate future, but in the medium and long term.”

2021 French Grand Prix: Norris and Gasly pass the battling Leclerc

Leclerc finished the 2019 French Grand Prix on the podium in P3. Even so, Binotto admitted that the origins of Ferrari’s 2021 nightmare races were obvious to the team even then.

“We knew this route would be difficult,” said Binotto. “High-speed corners where you put a lot of energy into the tires, hot conditions. If you look back two years ago we really had problems here so I guess these are our auto traits. It’s not a track that suits us well.

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“But in the end it’s been two years since we had the problem. We should have brought it up, it’s not the case yet, so it’s important to look to the future to learn the lessons and sort them out.

“It’s more important for us to understand it and definitely address it for next year,” added Binotto. “The main concern for us is that it will happen in more races, but not on all tracks. We have to prepare for this situation. “

Leclerc landed in P16, the lowest value the Monegasque has rated in a race since the 2018 Chinese Grand Prix

Although Pirelli had issued a technical guideline before the weekend forcing the teams to increase their tire pressures after Lance Stroll and Max Verstappen’s problems in Baku, Binotto denied it had a negative impact on Ferrari.

“No, I can’t think [the changes] Have an impact, ”said Binotto. “When I look at the recipe, [the pressures] were only raised at the back and we had the problem with the grain at the front. Nothing has changed for us in terms of preparation. So the answer is pretty clear, no. “

READ MORE: Norris calls out Gasly for “tough” Turn 11 move after taking a strong P5 spot at the French Grand Prix

The result of Ferrari’s first scoreless race in 2021 was the team losing third place in the Constructors’ Championship, which it held shortly after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, and falling to fourth behind McLaren, the gap between the two widening Teams increased to 16 points after McLaren’s Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo finished 5th and 6th in France.