Binotto: '2020 will be a difficult season'

In recent weeks there has been a lot of talk about reversed grid qualifying races on Saturday. A way to see the faster teams and drivers from midfield or back to front and create more spectacle.

Reversed grid races

Mattio Binotto, team boss of Ferrari, supported the idea of these reversed grid races and explains in conversation with RaceFans.net why. "We believe that 2020 will be a difficult season anyhow. It’s a season that should have started in Australia, didn’t start in Australia, we start only in July. [There are] less races, some races on the same circuit: Austria-Austria, UK-UK."

"I think that we need still to try to attract our fans. We need still to make sure that for the future of the F1 we are creating the best show. And I think that [having] the sprint race only on the second race weekend on the same circuit would have been a solution", said Binotto.

Compromise

A number of teams were against the proposal, mainly Mercedes and Toto Wolff didn't like the idea. Binotto says that Ferrari already accepted compromises in other areas that could put them at a competitive disadvantage. All this for the good of the Championship.

Binotto believes that this is a responsible step to take to improve the show. "As Ferrari I think we accepted a lot of compromises. For example, freezing development, freezing components while we know that at the moment we are certainly not the most competitive car."

"The sprint race, most of all the teams except one or two were in favour. F1 [were] in favour, FIA in favour. I think it’s a shame that we’re not testing it out because it’s again certainly a compromise, it’s a responsible choice", Binotto ends.