Binotto admits Ferrari was pushing the limits: 'In fact, it wasn't illegal'

Mattia Binotto debuted as team boss at Ferrari in 2019 and immediately became involved in a huge controversy that year. It is believed that the Italian racing stable was driving with an illegal engine, but the team insists that it was only operating on the edge of the regulations.

In the winter of 2019/20, the FIA announced after an investigation that it had reached a settlement with Ferrari. The organization suspected that the team "was not operating within the limits of the FIA regulations at all times," but ultimately no punishment followed.

However, that punishment came in the form of disappointing performance in the next Formula One season. What exactly Ferrari agreed to with the FIA and to what extent it was legal or illegal, Binotto would not disclose. "That's in the past; I prefer not to talk about that anymore," he says in conversation with BBC.

He insists his team did not break the rules, but admits it was pushing the limits. "What we were doing at the time was pushing somehow the line of interpretations. As a matter of fact, it wasn't illegal, or we would have been disqualified," the Italian reasons.

In 2020, the team fell way back, even further than it had anticipated. Binotto explains that the car for that year was designed with the knowledge that the team had an advantage in power, and thus accepted a car with a lot of downforce and a lot of drag. This could not be compensated for after the FIA intervened.

Moreover, Ferrari could not make any improvements in 2020 because of the development ban imposed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Binotto describes that as a difficult time in which Ferrari "suffered as a team."