Binotto can't complain after difficult year: "Yes I feel relieved, certainly"

Ferrari did some nice business in Bahrain with a double points finish from its drivers. Charles Leclerc finished sixth and Carlos Sainz eighth. With the disaster year of 2020 in the back of their minds the Italian team have definitely made progress and team boss Mattia Binotto is very relieved about that.

Pressure on Binotto

Ferrari had a lot of work to do at the end of 2020 to avoid a repeat in 2021. The team has improved the car in several areas and so far it is working out well. Competing for the championship is unlikely this year, but a better performing Ferrari is by definition good for the sport.

Mattia Binotto was logically under a lot of pressure, which is why he tempered expectations in advance. 2021 will not be the year of Ferrari and with that tempered perspective, Binotto can now breathe easy. He says this in conversation with Racer.com Binotto is looking back at the first performances of the SF21.

Healthier working environment

Binotto: "Yes I feel relieved, certainly, because we may work in a better position and that’s healthy for the team. It’s important that the team can work in a healthy condition, staying calm and positive. For me that was important, so coming here and seeing the car has progressed, put the team somehow in a serenity where we can even work in a better manner."

One of the things that helps with that is the improvement in the powerplant which is seemingly proving more competitive. For now, that's the first step in the right direction and in 2022 the team will introduce a completely new engine, which should at least be competitive enough. Binotto also hopes that that engine will be a benchmark for other teams, as he hinted at earlier.