Binotto on Gap between Vettel & Leclerc : “I think in the end it’s very small differences.”

Formula 1 headed to Imola for round 13 of the 2020 season and the third race on Italian soil this year, after those in Monza and Mugello. Unfortunately Ferrari is not competitive enough to make it count, but they are most successful team at Imola with 8 wins. Michael Schumacher leads all drivers with 6 wins, including the final race in 2006.

During Friday’s media session, Ferrari team Principal Mattia Binotto answered various questions like importance of Imola circuit, 2021 season calendar and gap between Vettel & Charles lap times.

Binotto on the return to the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari

“Just from the name of the track, you can understand how important this circuit is for Ferrari. For us, it is the shortest trip of the year and so many events link us to Imola. I remember very well the first time I came here with the Scuderia, in 1996, Michael Schumacher’s first year with us. Over subsequent seasons he did great things and so it’s nice to be able to come back and race at this track. It’s just a shame that the Covid situation means no spectators can attend.”

Binotto on 23 race 2021 F1 calendar

“I think that if the number of races increases, it will be impossible for mechanics, logistics guys and also the engineers to attend all of them. Therefore we will have to organise a turnover system and that will also apply to me. Even I won’t attend all the races and in fact that will be the case in two weeks time, as I will follow the Turkish Grand Prix from back in Maranello.”

Mattia Binotto on Gap between Vettel & Leclerc Lap times :

Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto has access to both Vettel and Leclerc’s telemetry, and revealed that the differences the team were seeing between the two drivers were “very small”.

“I don’t think there is a key difference. I think in the end it’s very small differences. We’re not speaking about a big number, it’s always a sum of hundredths per corner, per braking, so it’s very little.”

“As Seb said, certainly it’s a matter of feeling, it’s a matter of feeling the grip, it’s a matter of extracting the potential and it’s our task, our duty, to help him, to support him in a way that he can deliver better, and that’s it. But looking at the data, there are no big differences, that’s the point.”