Mattia Binotto, the Team Principal at Scuderia Ferrari, says a lot of work has been done this week in a bid to answer the questions raised during the opening race of the season, with the pace of the SF1000, particularly in Qualifying trim, not as strong as they would have liked.
Ahead of the second race of the delayed 2020 season, Binotto says the FIA, Formula 1 bosses and the bosses at the Red Bull Ring deserve a lot of praise for organising two races at the same circuit on consecutive weekends, with the Styrian Grand Prix quickly following the Austrian Grand Prix.
“There’s hardly been time to pause for breath after a really busy race weekend and now we’re back on track, the same track in fact as last Sunday,” said Binotto. “It’s yet another unusual factor in this 2020 season, which began last week and is due to end not long before the end of the year.
“First of all, I want to congratulate the FIA, Formula 1 and the Spielberg circuit race promoter on their efforts in making the event happen. Formula 1 was the first global sport to get going again after the halt caused by the pandemic, so everyone who made a contribution should be given credit for this, as it was no easy task.”
Ferrari ‘Working Flat Out’ to Bring Updates to the Red Bull Ring
The updates the team were planning to bring to the Hungarian Grand Prix have been brought forward by a week in a bid to turn around their fortunes, and Binotto hopes that they show the team are heading in the right direction with its developments.
Drivers Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel finished second and tenth last weekend in Austria having both suffered disappointing Qualifying results on Saturday, but Binotto says the team were hoping for more than they were able to deliver.
“The race team has stayed in Spielberg in between the first two races and back in Maranello, the factory is in full swing to try and come up with answers to the questions raised in the first Grand Prix,” he said. “We knew we would have a tough start to the season, and it was even more so than we had expected.
“That’s why we’re working flat out to try and already bring some of the updates due for Hungary to this next race. It’s a race against time but we’re doing our utmost. The fact we are racing again at the same track is a further reason to bring the updates here, so that we can confirm if they work and that our development direction is the right one.
“Our aim in the Styrian Grand Prix is to get all the potential out of our package and make the most of any opportunity to bring home as many points as possible.”
