Beneath strain, Binotto receives assist from Ferrari president

Ferrari chairman John Elkann admitted Ferrari made “too many errors” all through the season, however insisted the Italian producer’s board nonetheless had “nice confidence” in Mattia Binotto, the present director of Scuderia Ferrari.

After a stellar begin to the season with a victory within the opening spherical in Bahrain, Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc has emerged as a severe contender for the world title this 12 months. However because the season progressed, reliability points, strategic errors, in addition to driver errors allowed Pink Bull and Max Verstappen to take the lead in each the drivers’ and constructors’ championships.

Earlier than the Italian Grand Prix, sixteenth spherical of the Formulation 1 world championship which takes place this weekend in Monza, Max Verstappen is chief of the drivers’ championship with 109 factors forward of Charles Leclerc whereas Pink Bull can also be chief within the constructors’ championship with a 135-point lead over Scuderia Ferrari.

Regardless of the difficulties, the Ferrari chairman has publicly backed Mattia Binotto, however admits progress is now wanted: “We admire the whole lot he and our engineers have performed, however there isn’t a doubt that the work at Maranello, within the storage, on the pit wall and behind the wheel wants enchancment.” believes John Elkann in an interview with Gazzetta Dello Sport on the eve of the Italian Grand Prix.

“We’ve to maintain enhancing and that goes for the mechanics, the engineers, the drivers and naturally the entire administration workforce, together with the workforce principal. We’ve seen that there are nonetheless too many errors by way of reliability, administration and technique.

The Ferrari president insisted, nevertheless, that he nonetheless trusted Mattia Binotto who helped the Scuderia turn out to be aggressive once more: “Trusting Binotto and his workforce was the precise determination and it paid off. Because of them, we’re aggressive and we’re successful once more. However I am not glad, as a result of I believe we are able to all the time do higher.

Conscious that the world title behind which Ferrari has been chasing since 2007 will definitely not arrive once more this 12 months, Elkann is already specializing in the approaching seasons and believes that the Italian workforce will have the ability to win constructors’ and drivers’ titles earlier than 2026, when the brand new engine laws will come into drive in Formulation 1.

“Our first goal was to be aggressive. In the event you’re not, you are not going wherever to go, when you can nonetheless work on reliability. That is why I believe that earlier than 2026, Ferrari will win the constructors’ and drivers’ titles once more, with Charles [Leclerc] in pole place. We’re fortunate to have two nice drivers, most likely the strongest duo in Formulation 1.”