Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff believes he has “no reason” to cheer up Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto, following Ferrari’s qualifying debacle. Furthermore, the Austrian asserted that he couldn’t listen to any more talks of Ferrari’s struggles. With the Italian team enduring one of its most embarrassing F1 sessions yesterday, fans are highly critical of team principal Binotto, with some calling for his exit.
Wolff: I don’t want to talk about Ferrari
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For a team that spends nearly thrice on car development compared to some midfield teams, Ferrari barely scraped through into the final part of qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix. Sebastian Vettel didn’t even make it into Q3.
Ferrari’s struggles shouldn’t come as a complete surprise, as the team acknowledged its shortcomings before the race weekend started. However, it shocked spectators to see the Scuderia reduced to a midfield team. Moreover, it was reminiscent of the team’s dark days from 2014.
One of the major reasons behind Ferrari’s poor pace is the lack of straight-line speed. Following the FIA’s investigation into Ferrari’s 2019 engine over fuel irregularities, the Scuderia has simply lost its speed.
And this is a common theme that resonates across all Ferrari powered cars. Unsurprisingly, only 1 Ferrari powered car made it through to Q3. As a result, one can’t help but wonder if Ferrari’s major deficit is due to its engine troubles.
Wolff sympathized with Ferrari but not Mattia Binotto whilst reflecting on the team’s recent struggles.
“I don’t want to talk about Ferrari, this is more about the way things are being managed.
“And therefore, let’s not go back there. I think everything has been said back and forth.
“They haven’t shown great performance today,” said Wolff, as quoted by The Race.
“We want them to be competitive and race with us, race under the same rules.
“Not they have talked it down, but Mattia has talked it down.
“And I can’t listen to that anymore.” Said Wolff when asked about Ferrari’s apparent reasons for its poor form – including aero issues.
“I’d like to cheer everybody up at Ferrari because this is a fantastic company with fantastic people but I have no reason to cheer Mattia up,” concluded Wolff.
With F1 going racing around the Red Bull Ring twice, Ferrari needs damage limitation at this stage of the Championship.
