Ferrari hasn't 'completely addressed' F1 tyre woes despite strong Styrian GP

Ferrari went into the Styria weekend concerned that there would be a repeat of the tyre issues which plagued its French Grand Prix, where Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc dropped outside of the points despite starting well inside the top ten. 

The Italian marquee enjoyed a role reversal at the Red Bull Ring as it struggled in qualifying but fared well on race day, recovering to finish sixth and seventh to reduce the gap to McLaren in the constructors’ championship to 12 points.

Despite enjoying a positive race day performance, Binotto isn’t getting carried away. 

“I don’t think we’ve addressed the issue completely from France,” Binotto said. “No doubt after all the analysis, going back to France we could do some things differently and improve our performance there. 

“But I think overall the car has got some weaknesses that we will not address this year. For example, when we go to Silverstone, Silverstone again can be a difficult circuit for us. High-speed corners with a lot of energy into the tyres. 

“More important I think is the approach, the way the team reacted, try to prepare for Austria, and I think that has worked properly. Even if Silverstone will be a difficult circuit for us, no doubt, it will be better than France.”

F1 returns to the Red Bull Ring for this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix and Binotto is eyeing an improvement in qualifying performance.

“I think after France, it’s good to see how the team has reacted, how the team has worked all together, to try prepare in the best way for Austria,” Binotto added. “At least in the race we got the right speed and low degradation. 

“I think that overall we are happy, no doubt starting ahead in quali would’ve been better, so I think that if we look at the overall balance of the weekend, our quali result needs to be improved. But we’ve got an opportunity in a weeks’ time back here at the same track, try to address it. Again, the team will work together to try and understand how we may improve our speed in the quali. 

“But overall I think we can be happy for today. I think starting ahead, without the accident on the first lap for Charles, the overall result would have been better. I think that’s the way we need to look at the weekend.”