Binotto reflects on Ferrari’s biggest problem
If his departure from Ferrari had been announced at the end of November, Mattia Binotto had nevertheless spoken about the team's weaknesses just after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. He was already discussing the team's objectives for the 2023 season to overcome major issues and improve.
After a season marked by numerous strategy and reliability errors, Ferrari will finally have succeeded in leading the final race of the 2022 season by making all the right decisions. From tire choices to strategy, this ultimate race will have allowed Charles Leclerc to climb back up the leaderboard and surpass his main rival, Sergio Pérez, securing him the second place in the championship.
The strategy is not essential.
During his review of the 2022 season, Mattia Binotto admitted that there were lessons to be learned, with these lessons being identified in various areas that he discussed with The Race.
Firstly, reliability. It is our top priority because in order to win, you need to be reliable and that was not the case this season, just like an assessment of the season itself.
He continues: « The second factor is the speed of the car, because even though we were very competitive in qualifying, that wasn’t always the case in the race.
Between the lack of reliability and speed of the car, Mattia Binotto adds a lack of rhythm of the car that prevented them from improving their position in the standings. It is unclear whether by rhythm we mean pure rhythm or tire degradation, but it is true that the speed of the Ferrari seemed insufficient to catch up to Max Verstappen’s Red Bull, and this was evident shortly after the start of the season.
In addition to these two problems raised by Binotto, the team has often been criticized for its lack of strategy, which does not appear to be a priority for Binotto. However, he admitted that it should be an area to be examined.
« If you develop a fast and reliable car, yes you can make mistakes with strategies or pit stops, but you can always compensate for the fact that the car itself is fast and reliable. »
It seems, however, that it is the strategy that has disadvantaged the driver Charles Leclerc during the Hungarian, Monaco, Silverstone, and Canadian Grand Prix… From now on, the team’s direction is entrusted to Frédéric Vasseur, with the hope of seeing a more glorious season for the Scuderia Ferrari.
