Binotto: ‘Completely wrong’ to assume Ferrari are ahead

Mattia Binotto says it would be “completely wrong” to think Ferrari is ahead of Mercedes by going off Formula 1 pre-season testing alone.  

Five-time world champion Lewis Hamilton admitted he fears Ferrari could potentially be half a second per lap quicker than Mercedes heading into the 2019 season, despite Mercedes introducing a major new aerodynamic upgrade. 

Ferrari has set the pace in winter testing so far, leaving Mercedes adamant the Italian squad is the team to beat, but team principal Binotto is not convinced.

“We are still focusing on ourselves, we are still learning our car to understand the limit of performance but as well the reliability,” he said. 

“This is very important preparation for the entire season so I’m happy to know that Hamilton believes that we are faster, but we believe they are very strong. 

“I believe that Mercedes will be very, very strong in Australia and I think it would be completely wrong to think that today we are faster than them. 

“I think we know that here we may run different fuel levels, we’ve got different programmes, so I’m not expecting them to be behind us, I think it’ll be very, very close.” 

Valtteri Bottas was three tenths behind Vettel’s benchmark on the final morning of testing, but Mercedes has racked up the most mileage of any team and shown little signs of reliability problems.

On the other hand, Ferrari’s running has been disrupted in Barcelona during the second week. A cooling issue hampered Charles Leclerc’s morning on the opening day, before a wheel rim failure caused Vettel to crash out and lose valuable track time on Wednesday. 

Leclerc suffered a late exhaust issue on the penultimate day while Vettel also stopped on track early into the afternoon session on Friday, leaving Binotto setting reliability as a clear target for improvement. 

“To beat your competition in every race you always have to be extremely fast, this must be the spirit we go into every race,” Binotto added. 

“We have to push all the time, never be happy with what we’ve already achieved. It’s not a mater of being at the same level as the others, the goal has to be to be stronger than the others. And for now we’re not yet there, but that remains our goal. 

“I believe reliability is a determinant element in the course of each season and this year should be closely fought, so every single race, every single point could be crucial. 

“For now, I’d like our car to be more reliable than what it is. Having said that, it’s important to test to identify the issues and solve them quickly. I’m not alarmed.”