Ahead of the preseason testing at Bahrain, Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto has explained that the team will look to optimise their new car for 2022
At the Barcelona pre-season testing, many F1 teams revealed one or two cars on the track. And Ferrari put on a phenomenal display in the testing as the extra wind tunnel was one of the reasons behind the improved performance from last year.
In fact, on the second day of testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Cataluyna, it was Ferrari who topped the timesheets. However, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell put Mercedes on top on the third and final day.
Nevertheless, Ferrari still has room to improve, according to team boss Mattia Binotto. The Italian has claimed that the team in Red need to work on optimising its car rather than extensively upgrading it.
Mattia Binotto claims Ferrari will work on optimising F1-75 at Bahrain
Ferrari covered the most ground at Barcelona last month, with 439 laps as Charles Leclerc went fastest on Day 2 of pre-season running. However, Mattia Binotto has admitted that Ferrari will look to play the waiting game and try to optimise their car instead of making drastic changes to its design.
While speaking to reporters ahead of the Bahrain pre-season run, the 52-year-old said, “[Our car] will not be much different compared to what we have got. The first step for us is to optimise what we have. We are still far from the best performance, not only because we are running high fuel, or not the best engine mode but simply because there is a lot to exploit on the car itself.”
Binnotto went on to state that everyone was keeping an eye on the different cars at the testing in Barcelona. However, Ferrari, who finished third last season in the Constructors’ standings, will be hoping to improve on their position this year.
Since the emergence of Red Bull and Mercedes, the Italian manufacturer has struggled to assert its previous dominance of the sport. Following their worst sixth-place finish in the 2020 season, Ferrari prioritized the development of the 2022 challenger even before the 2021 car. Now, we its time to sit back at watch whether the team can return to the top.
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