Ferrari being exposed: ''We lose seven tenths on the straight''

Ferrari and Charles Leclerc finally managed to win a second place at the Austrian Grand Prix, but that didn't work out very well. Ferrari is far from where they want to be and that raises questions.

Ferrari came out of nowhere in 2019 after the summer break with a bloody fast engine. After Red Bull Racing and Mercedes had filed a complaint, the FIA issued a statement and since then Ferrari fell far back. After the winter break, however, Ferrari dropped out of the sub-top between McLaren and Racing Point.

Ferrari very slow

''In qualifying, we're a second short on pole. We lose about three tenths in the corners, but the other seven tenths we lose on the straight. It's going to be very difficult to close this gap now that the development of the bike is frozen, although it's not just the engine," said Mattia Binotto after the race.

''It's also about drag and we can't just change that either. It's a disappointment to see our current speed on the straight. But there's nothing we can do about it other than analyse the data and see what we can improve towards the next race,'' said Binotto.

Ferrari in trouble

The disappointing engine also caught the competition's eye. The teams were already unhappy with the deal between the FIA and Ferrari, but now that it has really become clear that Ferrari is not moving forward since the new FIA rule, more and more teams will be wondering if they wouldn't have ended up one place higher in the championship if something had been done about this. Not only that place is interesting, but especially the money that goes with it.

Binotto tries to avoid that subject and only looks at the present. ''There's no point in looking at last year. We now have to compare ourselves to the competition and get faster. That wasn't the case now and so we have to make sure we solve our problems'', concludes the Italian.