Binotto sees a tight fight between Ferrari and Red Bull after the first day of the French Grand Prix
Despite a domination by its machines during the first two free practice sessions, the head of the Ferrari team believes that Red Bull will be close to the Italian team this weekend.
Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz dominated Friday’s session at the French Grand Prix. After the Monégasque driver set the best time in FP1, the Spanish driver took over in FP2 ahead of his teammate and, more importantly, well ahead of Max Verstappen, who was half a second behind.
A situation that could lead one to think that we are heading straight towards a Red Bull domination this weekend. However, according to Maranello team boss, Mattia Binotto, this will not be the case. For him, Red Bull is much closer than the times would lead one to believe.
« We are not much stronger on a single lap. And Red Bull is not much stronger on long stints either. Once again, there should only be a few fractions of a second between us.
On Friday, the Red Bulls were faster in sector 2, which includes the two long parts of the Mistral straight. Meanwhile, the two Ferraris seemed more comfortable in the twisty sectors, especially the last one. Binotto believes that this could possibly change. Perhaps Red Bull will increase the downforce on their cars, and maybe we will decrease it. We will see what the rest of the weekend has in store for us.
In addition to finding the right settings for its race cars, Ferrari will also have to manage Carlos Sainz’s penalty. He has already been sentenced to a ten-place grid drop following engine component changes yesterday.
