F1 | Ferrari, Binotto: "The defeat in Bahrain was tough, but it gave us the right push to face the next races"

Among the protagonists of the team press conference, held this morning in Shanghai, were also present Matthias Binotto. The Ferrari team principal did not miss a personal reminder linked to the world of the Circus, which on Sunday will reach the historic milestone of 1.000 races.

"Since I was a child I watched races with my grandfather. He was a fantastic motorsport fan, but above all he was a Ferrari fan. Those like me who lived in Switzerland and looked at those red cars had a special feeling for Italy, and it was something unique for me. I dreamed of becoming part of the world of Formula One, but even more so of Ferrari. For me all this can resemble a mission: to preserve the legacy of this sport and of Ferrari”, underlined the Italian-Swiss engineer.

Shifting attention instead to the technical aspects, and therefore to the last race held in Bahrain where Charles Leclerc's Ferrari was slowed down by an internal short circuit in an engine injection control unit, Binotto said: "The defeat was tough and frustrating, but it gave us even more push for the next races including this one in China. I told Charles that he had a great race. I think he was fantastic in his comments at the end of the race, showing that he was mature. During testing (played last week in Bahrain, ed.) we did not encounter this problem, which only occurs once during the race. Reliability and quality are important, but these troubles can happen and I think it was really unfortunate".

Binotto then added: “We have changed all our units here in China as a precaution, even on the other car. Not because Seb's has had problems, but I think it's the best way to protect ourselves from this problem at the moment. And then we try to somehow understand and verify the quality of all the units that we installed".

The Cavallino team principal, to a specific question about the hierarchies in force in the team, replied: "We must give priority to the team, trying to maximize the points at the end of the races. If there is a 50-50 situation where we have to make a decision, priority would go to Sebastian simply because he has more experience with the team in Formula One. He has won four championships and certainly for us he is the rider who is most likely to challenge for the title. With both riders we agreed that, in the space of a few races, things could also change. On the track they are free to fight, if there is a rider between the two who is faster he will have an advantage".

Piero Ladisa

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