Binotto: We were hoping for better results

Mattia Binotto, head of the Ferrari team, is dissatisfied with the results of the Belgian Grand Prix and in particular explains the backlog at Red Bull Racing, with increased rubber degradation.

Q: How do you rate today’s race?
Mattia Binotto: We are upset, there is nothing to be happy about, but we have to honor Red Bull: they have been very fast all weekend, faster than all the other teams. They showed that they have a very efficient car, a strong team, and we were obviously inferior to them in speed today.

But if we compare the positions we take compared to those behind us, we can say that the picture is very familiar. It is clear that Red Bull is ahead of us, but I can say that we had difficulties today due to the intensive rubber degradation.

All this needs to be analyzed in order to understand how to solve a problem that seriously affects the speed. In general I am not satisfied because when we went to Spa we hoped for better results. But we have to admit that Red Bull was faster than us both today and in Hungary.

In such a situation, we can only focus on solving our own problems. We have to address our weaknesses and try to add on, which will be important not only in the remaining races of this season, but also next year.
If the car as a whole lacks efficiency, Spa is such a circuit where all this immediately manifests itself. We have to take all this into account.

Q: Are you sure that the decision to call Charles for the third pit stop at the end of the race was the right one, as it lost a few more points and was fined for speeding in the pit lane?
Mattia Binotto: I think we made the right decision, because to get the best possible result you have to take risks and Fernando Alonso was a bit behind Charles. The situation was tense, we knew that, but we also knew that with new tires and DRS we could outrun the Alpine car in a straight line.

So the decision was still correct, even though we didn’t manage to set the fastest lap. Why it didn’t work is another question. As for speeding in the pit lane, here too it is necessary to analyze the telemetry, as the situation there was on the verge.

Q: That is. Did Charles accelerate just as he exited the pit lane?
Mattia Binotto: Although it is not completely clear, we have yet to analyze everything. Maybe he turned off the speed limiter a meter earlier, but it happens. I don’t think it’s worth trying to get the fastest lap of the race, despite the risk of making a mistake using such tactics.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t use our regular sensors to measure speed accurately because they failed on the right side of the car due to overheating when the film from Max Verstappen’s visor entered the car.

Q: Finally, what can you say about the situation in the championship? Do you still have a chance at the title?
Mattia Binotto: If you look at the personal rankings, the gap with Max Verstappen is very big and for Charles it is not enough to finish alone in front of him in all the remaining races – you have to trust that in some cases he will not be able to finish.

And when there are under the conditions of the task that are not up to us, and we have to rely on problems that others may encounter, this makes everything seriously difficult. In this situation, the most important thing is to fully concentrate on their work, analyze today’s speed, as well as the extent of Red Bull’s backlog, and try to resolve everything with a view to next year.