Binotto: Are Red Bull in second or are we second?

While the Reds appeared to have the upperhand earlier in the season, they stagnated if not dropped back while the Blues have relentlessly improved their Honda-powered package, so much so that Max Verstappen scored the outfit's first win of the season in Austria last month.

The Scuderia have yet to post a victory in this edition of the championship.

The battle for secondary honours has not gone unnoticed by Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto after their bittersweet British Grand Prix weekend, the one in which Sebastian Vettel crashed and Charles Leclerc finished second.

Asked about Red Bull's rise after the race at Silverstone, Binotto replied, “They certainly improved and if I look at the last two races, as a matter of fact, they won in Austria and they have been very competitive here. I think our package and their package are very close and I think that the last two races have shown it.

“Are they in second or are we in second?" asked the Italian team chief of the pecking order behind the Silver Arrows.

While Mercedes remain ahead in the distance, Binotto believes battling with the Red Bulls is all the motivation his team needs, "We are pretty close... I think it's given us even more of a boost as we need to further improve.

"We need to be capable of fighting for first place at every single race, whatever the circuit. This hasn't been the case and in that respect, it’s no doubt disappointing. After qualifying [at Silverstone] I would say we were expecting a better result but the pace was not good enough and I think there is a lot to improve.”

Meanwhile, Red Bull are buoyant as their gamble to ditch Renault and partner with Honda is starting to pay dividends as team boss Christian Horner explained, “It’s really encouraging to be so close to Mercedes around this type of track, which we know is power-sensitive

"To be able to follow the Ferraris as closely as we were able to through Maggots, Becketts and Copse, Max was able to take some serious momentum behind the Ferraris there and that’s usually the sign of a pretty decent car."

“I think the last few races we’ve been able to get some performance on the car and it’s been working well," added Horner whose team is third in the constructors' standings, 52 points adrift of Ferrari but the team's top scorer - Verstappen - lies third in the drivers' standings.

https://www.grandprix247.com/2019/05/14/pecking-order-mercedes-way-ahead-red-bull-catch-ferrari/