Mattia Binotto from Ferrari: “We can’t be completely satisfied with the 16 points we scored”

Mattia Binotto says the level of performance of Scuderia Ferrari during Sunday Turkey Grand Prix confirms that the team has made progress with its unit.

Charles Leclerc finished fourth after a venture to stick with his original intermediate tires didn’t pay off while Carlos Sainz Jr. climbed from nineteenth on the grid to eighth, which could have gone even better without a slow pit stop.

Binotto, the Ferrari team principal, admits that fourth and eighth is a good afternoon for them Maranello-Team, but the pace shown by both Leclerc and Sainz in Turkey in the afternoon leaves them not entirely satisfied with the result.

“That was a very intense race and it confirmed the good omens that had already appeared on Friday in very different dry track conditions,” said Binotto. “Istanbul is a very demanding track and we have shown that we are competitive at least on this track and therefore we cannot be entirely satisfied with the 16 points we scored today.

“Charles had a great weekend, both in qualifying and in the race. Together we tried to bring home an even better result and it’s a shame that he didn’t make it to the podium in the end, because that would have been deserved.

“Carlos, who came to Turkey with the starting penalty above him, made a great ascent that brought him up to eighth place.”

Binotto says the team continues to make good progress as they try to get back to the top of the field, but there is still a lot to be done to contend with that Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team and Red Bull Racing regularly.

The result in Turkey paired with the McLaren F1 team only scored a seventh place for Lando Norris means that Ferrari has closed the gap to its rivals to just seven and a half points with six races remaining.

“We are still making progress, but there is still a lot to do to fight for victory on a regular basis,” said Binotto. “We have to be realistic and keep improving in all areas.

“We can face the remaining six races with confidence, knowing that we have a package that will allow us to fight for third place in the constructors’ championship right through to the end, one of our stated goals for this season.”