The Maranello team had been involved in a year-long battle for third place with McLaren, but prevailed over their British rival in the latter part of the campaign, thanks largely to results in the last three races.
Ferrari are 39.5 points ahead of McLaren with only two races left after the Woking team scored just four points in the recent triple header in Mexico, Brazil and Qatar.
But despite the progress made by Ferrari – who finished sixth overall last year with less than half the points it scored in 2021 – Binotto insists that the focus was on developing his car in 2022 for the introduction of new regulations.
“We never really developed the current car,” said Binotto. “We introduced a few developments right at the start of the season and that was it.
“Except for the engine later, but the engine, that was also a development with a view to 2022, so all our efforts from the start of the season were always focused on the car of 2022, we never compromised it.
“So let’s just say it never crossed our minds to try to punish 2022 in favor of 2021 at some point.
“We knew we could have been fighting for third place earlier this season, we knew it could have been very close, but we knew that our main goal in 2021 was not third place, it was trying to get ourselves to improve in all details as “a team and third place is simply a result of it.”
“I think if we get third today, it’s because the team and the way they work on different weekends have certainly improved a lot since the start of the season, and not because the car itself has evolved, “he added.
Carlos Sainz Jr., Ferrari SF21
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Binotto believes several factors outside of vehicle and engine development contributed to Ferrari taking a leap forward this season.
“I think the racing team has made great strides since the start of the season,” he said.
“There has been a lot of progress in terms of strategy, the way we lead, communicating with the drivers, understanding what we are doing. It has improved a lot in terms of tire management.
“I think that since Paul Ricard the team has developed a lot of little tools and methods to try to do better.
He added, “When I look at where we were last year, sixth, with few points in the championship, I think we made the most of the current regulations and most of the cars had very limited development opportunities too, since” good about the car in 2021.
“So overall, I think the team has made great strides in what was possible and I’m very happy about that because yes, third place is a great result of the effort.”
Additional reporting by Christian Nimmervoll
The post Ferrari “never compromised” F1 car of 2022 in battle for third place first appeared on monter-une-startup.
