Mattia Binotto is worried about the pace Ferrari showed at Zandvoort. The Scuderia director believes that the lack of performance of the F1-75 was the main problem in the Netherlands, as it was the case in Belgium and Hungary, before the summer break.
After the Hungaroring race, he had already used the same argument, but it had made the wrong impression, since the Scuderia had a good pace at the start of the race. In Zandvoort, this argument is more admissible.
“I don’t think it’s a question of strategy,” says Binotto. « After Hungary and Belgium, we’re still not fast enough with the car. And when you don’t have a fast enough car, it’s hard to win races and get good results. »
« The main problem after today’s race is to look at our pace, the speed and the performance of the car, and you want to understand why for three races we have not exploited its potential.
Avoid a “big mess” like Sainz’s stoppage from happening again
Binotto wants to prevent problems like those of Carlos Sainz, who was immobilized for 12 seconds in the pits, from happening again in the future. But he refuses to blame strategic decisions more than operational problems.
« The worry is not around the strategy even though there was a big mess around Carlos’ first stop. He was called too late, the mechanics weren’t ready and it cost him places. . »
Charles Leclerc was unlucky with the timing of his stoppage, and it conditioned his run, according to Binotto: « We were unhappy with Charles, there was the safety car after he stopped. But my main concern was the pace of the car. »
Binotto also wants to understand the difference in pace between Leclerc and Sainz, who were slower throughout the race: « We think Carlos may have had some damage at the start after the contact with Lewis, we have to analyze to see if that’s the answer. But for sure it’s something we have to study. »
Mercedes F1 is ‘a concern’ for Binotto
Now, Ferrari must worry about the return to form of Mercedes F1, which was beating the Scuderia on a regular basis with its two single-seaters, and which is 30 points behind the Italian team in the constructors’ championship.
« Mercedes are very almost right now, and that’s a concern right now because they’re coming back, at some circuits there’s no longer a gap between them and us. That’s something we have to study, they were just behind today they were even faster in the race. »
« We weren’t fast enough to try to beat them. We are going to have Monza which will be very important for us, it will be the first time that there will be tifosi in the stands since the Covid, you it will be very important for us. »
The Swiss hopes to have some answers on the lack of performance by then: « They will support us to push the team, the car and the drivers. But above all we have to analyze and review why for three races we have not been fast enough. »
