F1 | Ferrari, Binotto analyzes 2019: "We lost the championship when we designed the car"

Ferrari, with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix held last Sunday on the Yas Marina track, ended a difficult 2019 despite finishing second in the Constructors' World Championship behind Mercedes.

In fact, the Cavallino team suffered from regular competitiveness, to which were also added reliability problems, in the first half of the season, recovering instead in the second half where it still managed to achieve three successes: two with Charles Leclerc (Spa and Monza) and one with Sebastian Vettel (Singapore).

Mattia Binotto, reviewing the recently concluded championship, he underlined how the problems suffered by the SF90 can be attributed to an incorrect design evaluation.

"I think we lost the championship last year when designing our car – admitted the Cavallino team principal, quoted by Formula1.com -. Once again we didn't have a competitive start to the season, I think the project wasn't good enough".

"Our development, and our design in general, was not as good as that of our main competitor – continued Binotto -. It's definitely been a busy season with a lot to do. We've restructured and reorganized the team, but in the meantime we've always tried to address and improve the car and I think we've done that throughout the season, at least at some level. Now the season is over, so let's look at the next one".

For Binotto, despite a championship full of ups and downs, the watchword is continuity: “There is nothing that needs to be changed big, it's a question of experience. We have always said we are a new team, especially in key roles, and we are on a very steep learning curve. I'm pretty sure there will be a point where we finish without any mistakes".

On next season: “We know where our weaknesses are, we are working hard to solve them. But it's all relative, I don't know what the situation will be at the beginning of next season and no one can know now. Next year we will have 22 races. The important thing is that the team remains united and continues to be focused, work hard and perform well with high motivation".