Ferrari had a disastrous couple of races after winning consistently in Silverstone and Austria. The two recent failures in France and Hungary have landed the Scuderia in a strange position. And this allowed Red Bull to take a 97-points lead in the constructors\’ championship. Meanwhile, a number of reliability concerns, strategic blunders, and driver errors have allowed Mercedes to close the gap for the second spot to just 30 points. Thus, Ferrari is currently feeling the pressure from both ends despite being the fastest across the circuit this year.
The Italian outfit had been eyeing their first championship title since Kimi Raikkonen in 2007. They have relied on the next generations of drivers, Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel, to win them a championship. However, it had not come true for more than a decade. At the same time, their F1-75 and exciting young drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz gave them some hopes of winning the championship this year by winning the Bahrain GP. However, the journey has been a tough one due to reliability concerns and following errors. But, despite all the troubles, Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto has claimed that his team has no need to change its approach during the second half of the 2022 championship.
Binotto is in his fourth stint as team principal at Ferrari. He has been under a lot of pressure this year due to poor strategy calls and unreliability. However, when asked what Ferrari should do next, Mattia claimed there was nothing to change. He believed that it was a matter of confidence and building experience & skills. Looking at the team\’s balance during the first half, the Italian engineer did not feel a need for a change.
Instead, Mattia suggested that Ferrari needed to understand its performance in Hungary, address the issue and try to be competitive ahead. Binotto added, \”We have been competitive in 12 races so far. There is no reason why we will not be competitive during the next races.\”
Binotto Defends Ferrari\’s Pit Strategy In Hungary
Further, Ferrari Boss Binotto advocated that Leclerc and Sainz\’s misfortune in Hungary was an isolated incident. It was the first time in the season the two Ferraris did not have the speed. However, Binotto reckoned the lack of pace was not due to the poor strategy call.
Talking about Leclerc\’s mindset ahead, Mattia told that the Monegasque always looked to win every single race and was building for the team. He insisted that Ferrari was losing and winning together. The Italian thought that his team needed to focus on the reason behind their lack of speed and come back stronger in Spa. Binotto concluded, \”Hungary has not been a great one, the last race was not a great one, but I think there has been a lot of potential.\”