Binotto: Getting points off McLaren is not important

The Reds did well to bounce back at the Styrian Grand Prix after a zero points haul in France, but sixth and seventh is hardly the type of result that will inspire long-suffering Tifosi.

Facts are they were woefully off the pace compared to Red Bull and Mercedes, while Charles Leclerc somehow got the Driver of the Day award from F12 fans despite his first lap shenanigans deserving of a penalty.

Nevertheless, Leckertc did well to recover and finish seventh, behind Carlos Sainz in the sister car, a lap behind race winner Max Verstappen. The Reds are far, far behind.

Binotto reported on the weekend during an interview with the official F1 website: “We have not addressed completely the issue of France, no doubt. Going back to France, we could have done some things differently and improved our performance there.

"But I think overall the car has got some weaknesses which you did not see here and again when you go to Silverstone, it can be again a difficult circuit for us – high-speed corners with a lot of energy in the tyres."

Ferrari and their drivers do not appear to understand the SF21 which was good for two poles earlier this year, but came with mediocre race pace; now it's a brick in qualifying but much better in the race as they grapple to make the tyres work.

How did they achieve this at Maranello? Binotto explained: “More important I think is the approach. How the team reacted in Austria has worked properly and I’m pretty sure that if Silverstone is a difficult circuit for us, no doubt it will be better than France.”

McLaren are third in the championship on 120 points with Ferrari a dozen adrift in fourth but this battle is not a high priority according to Binotto: “How important is it for us to get points on McLaren? It isn’t.

“As I said at the start of the season, our main objectives is to make sure we are progressing in view of the next year and the next seasons and making sure we are doing better in every single area, making sure we are learning from the mistakes, for example in France."

Learning by their mistakes is not a trait of the great team in its current state; Binotto admitting after Paul Ricard that their woes were down to problems that surfaced for them two years ago, they were not addressed hence the France fail.

Binotto continued: “For us, the third position is an objective but not the main one. The main one is as a team we are improving and being competitive in the future. So yes, great we got some points in the constructors’ but that should not be our top objective in the season.

“And the fact our drivers are doing well as opposed to McLaren – I’m not judging the others, I will not start doing it, I will only judge ourselves and I will say I’m very proud the way our drivers are fitting into the team," concluded the Ferrari team boss.

Meanwhile, the hard facts are that Ferrari has not won a Grand Prix since they triumphed in Singapore back in 2019; 646 days to be precise! I was reminded by a Tifosi who actually counts the days between victories for his team.