Mattia Binotto, the Team Principal at Scuderia Ferrari, says the team will need to work with the same kind of determination throughout the rest of the year as they did in the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday if they are to have a good 2021 season.
Binotto watched on as Charles Leclerc scored a sixth-place finish at the Bahrain International Circuit under the floodlights on Sunday evening, while new team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr. recovered from a poor start to claim points on his Ferrari debut in eighth.
Binotto felt Ferrari struggled more during the race than they did in Saturday’s Qualifying session, a session where Leclerc qualified an excellent fourth on the grid.
However, the team acquired a lot of data and information that Binotto hopes will help the team move further forward across the remainder of the season, starting with the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari in three weeks time.
“That was a very intense race,” said Binotto. “It was the first of twenty-three stages of what will be a very long season and we must take each one as it comes, working calmly and with determination, just as we did this weekend.
“In the race, we struggled a bit more than we had done in qualifying, but we acquired plenty of useful data that will allow us to understand where we must improve.
“There’s a long way to go, but we will continue working to improve in all areas. Now our attention turns to the next round in Imola, which is special for us given that, along with Monza, it is a home race for us.”
