Ferrari Team principal and Managing Director Mattia Binotto is not a fan favorite, thanks to ugly Vettel’s sack. We can add Mercedes boss Toto Wolff also to that list, who are not impressed with Binotto.
Ferrari has started the 2020 season with poor performance in Austrian Grand Prix qualifying, with Charles Leclerc a second off the pace in seventh and Sebastian Vettel failing to even make the top 10.
The Italian said before the weekend that Ferrari needed a “significant” development direction change, continuing a narrative from testing that the Italian team’s 2020 car was not performing as well as expected because it had lost straight-line speed and not gained much in the corners.
While Mercedes dominated qualifying at the Red Bull Ring on Saturday, Ferrari was well down on top speed compared to last year and the majority of its deficit appeared to be on the straights.
Its customer teams also struggled in qualifying, the first competitive session since the FIA’s new measures over the off-season to stamp out any potential engine wrongdoing.
Ferrari Engine powered car lap time comparison between 2019 & 2020
| Drivers | Team | 2019 Qualifying lap time | 2020 Qualifying Lap time | Delta |
| Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:03.003 | 1:03.923 | 0.920 |
| Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:03.667 | 1:04.206 | 0.539 |
| Romain Grosjean | HAAS FERRARI | 1:04.490 | 1:04.691 | 0.201 |
| Kevin Magnussen | HAAS FERRARI | 1:04.072 | 1:05.164 | 1.092 |
| Antonio Giovinazzi | ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI | 1:04.179 | 1:05.224 | 1.045 |
| Kimi Räikkönen | ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI | 1:04.166 | 1:05.757 | 1.591 |
Ferrari driver Charles leclerc was on pole position in Last years Austrian GP with a 1:03.003 lap which is 0.920 seconds faster than this years best Q3 time. Where as Mercedes gained 0.311 seconds.
Wolf on Ferrari Struggle & Binotto Aero excuses
“I don’t want to comment on this, I think enough has been said,” Wolff told to The-Race, when asked if he thought it was just a coincidence that other teams improved while Ferrari and its customers struggled more.
“I don’t want to talk about Ferrari, this is more about the way things are being managed”.
“And therefore, let’s not go back there. I think everything has been said back and forth”.
“They haven’t shown great performance today, we want them to be competitive and race with us, race under the same rules“.
“And nothing would make me more happy than if we would have three or four teams being competitive out there and giving us a run for our money.”
Asked by The Race where he felt the deficit was given the data clashed with Ferrari’s position of talking its aerodynamic performance down, Wolff said: “Not they have talked it down, but Mattia has talked it down“.
“And I can’t listen to that anymore.”
“I’d like to cheer everybody up at Ferrari because this is a fantastic company with fantastic people but I have no reason to cheer Mattia up,” Wolff said when asked how he might find positives for Binotto following a disappointing day.
Wolff on Mercedes Advantage over the field
“Yes, we were quite surprised with the advantage,” he said.
“You never quite know where everybody stands after such a long break, and we knew that Honda will be coming back strong with an update, and therefore it’s very difficult to judge.
“So the five tenths comes a little bit of a surprise at a track that wasn’t our best in the past, so I’m quite pleased.”
