Mattia Binotto insists that there is no reason why Ferrari need to change despite another disastrous showing for the team at the 2022 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Mattia Binotto was in denial after Ferrari threw away a potential one-two in Hungary, finishing fourth and sixth instead, Carlos Sainz leading Charles Leclerc.
The Ferrari boss insists his team took no wrong strategy calls during the race, despite the universal agreement around the mistake of using the Hard tyres around the Hungaroring, which Ferrari did with Leclerc, costing him the race.
Binotto defended his strategy team fiercely after yet another blunder, which is admirable from the team leader, but his insistence that nothing needs to change within the Scuderia is quite strange.
“I’m frustrated no doubt, even if I’m maybe not showing it too much, but I’m certainly frustrated,” Binotto said in and interview with Channel 4 after the race in Budapest.
“Because I know what is the potential of the car, what it has been so far, even if today it’s the first time in the first half of the season that the car was not so great,” he added.
“It’s not a matter of bad luck, and there is nothing to change as well,” Binotto insisted. “It’s always a matter of continuous learning and building, building experience, building skills.
No reason to change anything within the team
“Today [Sunday], certainly there is something that you need to look at and understand why. But if I look again at the balance of the first half of the season, there is no reason why we should change,” he claimed.
Which is quite strange, as before Hungary, Leclerc was 63 points behind Max Verstappen already down to reliability problems and strategy errors, in addition to two driving errors from the Monegasque in Imola and Paul Ricard.
“I think we simply need to address what was wrong today,” Binotto went on. “We need to understand, and then to address and get back competitive at the 12 races so far [before Hungary] and the reason why it could not be the case at the next one.”
With Leclerc seeing his Formula 1 Title hopes dwindling after yet another hit last Sunday, Binotto reflected: “As a leader, he is [key] to continue building, building for the team and building for himself step by step, and I think to look at each single race as an opportunity to win.
“We are winning and losing altogether. Today it has not been a great one, but I think there is still much potential and a lot of potential.
“We need to focus first to understand the reasons of today, address them, and come back even stronger,” the Scuderia chief concluded.