Mattia Binotto Paints a Grim Picture Considering Ferrari’s Ambitions for 2021

Scuderia Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto believes the team is at a disadvantage due to the regulations delay. With the FIA and F1 agreeing to postpone the 2021 regulations to 2022, it puts Ferrari on the back foot. Binotto feels the Italian team gains nothing from postponing regulations and merely upholds the teams’ responsibility towards the sport.

Ferrari at a disadvantage

The 2020 Formula One cars are merely an improvement on the 2019 cars. With regulations stabilizing, teams only implemented minor changes to their cars heading into this season. The teams that got it right – like Mercedes and McLaren didn’t need to do a lot. However, teams like Ferrari and Haas had their work cut out in developing a competitive car.

The SF1000 is the SF90’s more stable but slower cousin. It excels in areas where its predecessor struggled but also lacks the SF90’s punch. Binotto claimed the team weren’t optimistic for the first few races and didn’t particularly praise the SF1000. However, without a single race being held, the car remains a mystery.

If and when the season eventually gets underway and Ferrari get a proper chance to test its car, there are 2 possibilities. First, Ferrari nail the aero package, get it right and concentrate on developing upgrades. Otherwise, the worst scenario – which involves going back to the drawing board and fixing flaws. Not an ideal situation for Ferrari, considering they pretty much lost the plot in 2019 trying to fix issues.

Combine that with an extremely tight schedule and Ferrari’s looking at 2 uncompetitive seasons. Binotto echoed these words and confirmed that there was a cause for concern. Speaking to Sky Italia, Mattia said:

Binotto isn’t very optimistic

“Considering the current baseline and the feedback from the tests, we don’t think we have an advantage with this choice,”

“The regulations [for 2021] remain the same, but there will still be room for aerodynamic development. We have yet to define that in detail,”

The Italian revealed that there were ongoing discussions with the other teams to get some clarity on development for 2021.

“We are discussing it with all the representatives of the teams and with the FIA, to understand what will be frozen and what will be open to development.