Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto was not one to sugarcoat things when he spoke about Scuderia Ferrari’s title chances. According to him, it will take a “few years” to topple Mercedes as the number one team in Formula 1.

The last time Scuderia Ferrari won a Driver’s title was in 2007, while they took home the constructor’s title in 2008. It was also noteworthy that Ferrari took the runners-up spot in four out of the last five F1 seasons.

Meanwhile, arch rivals Mercedes are on the prowl for an unprecedented seventh consecutive World Championship double in 2020. Admittedly, Ferrari have proven to be faster than Mercedes on occasion, but these instances have been few and far in-between.

Speaking to Motorsport.com Italy, Binotto said, “To open a winning cycle and to be in front of Mercedes in a stable way, it will still take a few years. But I know that as Ferrari we always have a moral obligation to try every year”.

He affirmed that the Maranello outfit’s goal was to perform well in 2020 and not end the season in second place. The Italian also believes that reaching team maturity is not a feat that can be achieved in two days.

What next for Scuderia Ferrari?

With no on-track action, the time is ripe for the rumour mill to get some of its own action. Some say that Scuderia Ferrari could be in for a tough 2020 campaign. Apparently, the Ferrari engineers have not had a good first impression of the initial numbers coming back from tests performed on their 2020 car.

The second rumour is Ferrari’s new simulator will not be ready for use until the spring. So the F1 team will likely be forced to continue using their current model. This simulator is nicknamed “The Spider” and it has been in operation for over a decade.