Binotto: Mercedes’ F1 car ‘slightly better’ than Ferrari’s

Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto concedes Mercedes currently has the “slightly better” Formula 1 car, but is convinced the gap between the two teams is not a true representation.

After a strong showing in pre-season testing at Barcelona, Ferrari was billed as the early favourites by its rivals, but it has endured a tricky start to the 2019 season, with Mercedes picking up four consecutive one-two finishes.

The reigning world champions boast an early 74-point buffer to Ferrari in the constructors’ championship as a result, though Binotto insists the Scuderia is yet to get the best out of its SF90.

“I think that obviously four races into the season, no win for Ferrari, four wins for Mercedes, no doubt they are very strong,” Binotto said.

“Certainly they’ve got a slightly better car, but I think that the gap is not so big and the points of the result are not reflecting the true potential of the cars.

“We had the potential for pole [in Baku], and if you’ve got a car fast enough to score potentially the pole, you’ve got a good car overall.

“In the race, yes, we weren’t as fast as them, but we didn’t finish 20 seconds behind.

“The updates work as expected. These are only the very first one. A few updates are expected as well in the next races, so we will not stop here. Out hopes definitely are that we can do a better job in the future.”

Binotto said Ferrari is bringing more upgrades to this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix and insisted the importance of focusing on its own performance, rather than that of its rivals.

“Mercedes is very strong at the moment and I’m pretty sure they will be very strong as well in Barcelona,” he added. “But more important I think is being focused on ourselves.

“We need to look at our weaknesses and try to address them. I’m pretty sure we’ve got plenty of data coming from the weekend [in Baku]. We have faced different situations.

“So there’s a lot to learn from here. Then in Spain, pretty sure that many teams will bring aero package or car developments, so that will be again a different balance compared to what we’ve seen so far in the season.”