Ferrari not worried by Mercedes’ progress towards the 2023 season
Ferrari caught up with Mercedes in the second half of the season. The German team has accelerated its development in order to compete at the front. Despite this impressive progress by the Silver Arrows, Scuderia Ferrari director Mattia Binotto is not surprised, as the Italian firm stopped development of their single-seater early enough to concentrate on 2023.
Mercedes’ progress in this second part is impressive. The German team has caught up with Ferrari and is competing with Red Bull for the win. Despite this difficult situation for the Italian team, Mattia Binotto remains calm and believes that these improvements are the result of Mercedes’ intensive development.
Mercedes is coming back because they have developed the car more than we have, he told Autosport.
« We also know ourselves that we stopped the development of this car early enough to focus on 2023. So, I am not too concerned about the pace of development because I also know when we stopped developing it.
»
Ferrari is falling behind in this second part of the season, the Italian team is lagging significantly behind the leading teams. Mattia Binotto wanted to go back on the difficulties encountered by the team during the past races.
The Japan was under the rain and we were not as fast, but it was not a drama and certainly not in qualifying.
In the United States, in Austin, I think we were competitive during qualifications, but not as much as we would have expected in the race.
« In Mexico, it’s much worse, but I don’t think it’s the same trend because Singapore is competitive, Japan is not too bad, and in the United States, we have had decent performances.
»
The Italian team must prioritize analyzing the issues encountered by Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz at the Mexican Grand Prix. The two Ferrari drivers failed to keep up with the Mercedes and Red Bull cars that quickly pulled away at the start of the race. The Italian team conceded a significant number of points to their German rival in the battle for second place in the constructors’ championship.
« […] The first duty is to try to analyze what is happening and what have been the main problems here in Mexico, and to try to be competitive again for our level of competitiveness at least for the last two races, including Sao Paulo. »
Ferrari wants to regain a good level of performance for the end of the season in order to defend their position in the constructors’ championship. We certainly hope to be there and fight for a better result.
