Binotto expects big changes from Mercedes in Bahrain
Ferrari boss, Mattia Binotto, spoke about the teams' strengths this year. While he acknowledges his team had a good winter testing, he is wary of Mercedes, as he sees them bringing significant improvements to Bahrain.
The preseason poker of deception continues. No team wants to be singled out as the opponent to beat, and everyone is passing around the label of favorite. Mattia Binotto, the boss of Ferrari, gave his prediction and he sees Mercedes well positioned to remain at the top. « I am convinced that Mercedes will have a two or three-month head start on us when we are in Bahrain. » The director of the Scuderia was responding to Lewis Hamilton’s statement, who, on the other hand, saw the Prancing Horse having « several months of advantage » after the early discontinuation of development on the 2021 car to focus on the 2022 one.
“I think it’s difficult today to judge the performances and competitiveness between teams,” continued Binotto. “What is important for us is to have been able to gather data in Barcelona, and I think we can be satisfied with the number of laps we have completed, collecting data that we will analyze in Maranello.”
The Italian driver specified being wary of his competitors’ improvements in Bahrain. « I have heard rumors that our opponents are going to bring significant improvements to Bahrain. So, I am more focused on our own performances than on Hamilton’s. »
Back to the top in 2022?
Ferrari brought the latest notable improvements to the SF-21 during the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on July 18th. Charles Leclerc narrowly missed bringing back a victory that the Reds have been chasing since 2019, when Sebastian Vettel won in Singapore. Since then, the Scuderia had a disastrous 2020 season, finishing in sixth place in the constructors’ standings. However, 2021 has been an encouraging and promising year, allowing the tifosi to believe once again in Ferrari’s return to the top.
« Many fans have placed great hopes in us, we are fans too so we have great hopes as well,” stated Mattia Binotto. » « At the moment, the car is performing well, without any major issues. […] Will it be enough? We must not forget that at the end of last year, we were often one second behind the best, so these guys are capable of being very strong. »
First elements of response during the tests in Bahrain starting next Thursday.
