F1 News
Binotto on 'efficient' Ferrari lacking downforce
Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto has said that the ‘efficient’ car is part of the problem that has cost them points due to the lack of downforce.
Ferrari were seen as the favourites to be leading this season after an impressive winter testing which saw them out on top with blistering pace.
But Mercedes have won the first five races with one-two finishes, out-pacing and performing the Scuderia each time.
While it is true that Ferrari do have the straight-line speed Binotto feels that it is the ultimate reason for not enough speed in the corners.
Binotto said on F1’s website: “I think we’ve got a car that’s quite efficient – you can see it on the straight.
“But it doesn’t mean we’ve got the car that’s got the highest downforce in the pit lane.
“We’ve got a car that is overall efficient, but lacking in… peak of downforce. But here again it is peak of downforce [in] high speed [corners], low speed, and that is where we are."
The Italian also talked about how different the tyres are from last season to this year, claiming they are harder to get to optimum temperature.
“The tyres this season are quite different to the ones of last year,” he added.
“The tyres of this season are quite different in this respect. Warm up is a lot more difficult, and the window also, temperature targets, to get the best grip from the tyres itself, to achieve it you need to heat up the tyres.”
Despite the issues with warming up the tyres and the car not quite having the necessary downforce in comparison to Mercedes Binotto is still confident that his team can deliver in Monaco.
He said: “I think we can compare Monaco to Baku and we were good in Baku… Obviously FP1, FP2 Mercedes showed to be very strong again. Very easy for them to find the right window on the tyres to perform properly through the lap. There is much to do, [but] there is an entire day [on Friday] and let’s see qualifying and the race."
