F1 News - Ferrari 'severely lacking' aero and power

Belgian Grand Prix – Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto admits his team were deficient in both aerodynamics and power over the Belgian GP weekend.

Ferrari finished well outside the points with both of their cars on Sunday, at a track where they won with relative ease in 2019. It’s been a huge slump in form, with most of the blame being pointed at the power unit’s lack thereof.

However, with Kimi Raikkonen finishing as the highest placed Ferrari powered car after getting ahead of both works cars on merit it’s clear that something else is amiss with the SF1000. In Sector 2, the least power-demanding area of the track, Ferrari were still in the bottom half of the field, and team boss Mattia Binotto has admitted to serious deficiencies across the board.

“On a track that requires aerodynamic efficiency and power, we were severely lacking in both.” said Binotto. “Charles and Sebastian did their very best, both yesterday in qualifying and today in the race, but we couldn’t even get into the points.”

Sebastian Vettel finished as the lead Ferrari, albeit down in P13, having had to go through the indignity of watching Raikkonen surge past down the Kemmel Straight. Having started in that position, Vettel said Spa really revealed the team’s weaknesses: “It was not an easy race. We finished in the same place in which we started. We tried everything with both cars, but we were just too slow. I hope the situation on this circuit doesn’t repeat itself. I think this track maybe exposed our weaknesses a bit more than others.”

“I believe we can do a bit better next week. We must work to make sure that we take everything we can from this weekend, learn all there is to learn and go forward.” concluded Vettel.

Charles Leclerc was switched from a single stop to a two stop strategy due to needing his pneumatic system topped up during the race. He questioned this on the radio after coming out in last position, but used his fresher tyres to climb back up to P14 and right behind Vettel at the chequered flag.

“I had a very good start and managed to make up several positions thanks to a good tow up to turn 5, but after that things started to get worse. First of all, we lost time during both pit stops due to some issues.” he explained.

“During the second stint, we knew that we couldn’t make any miracles happen so, seeing the position we were in, with a train of cars ahead and no possibility to overtake, we decided to try something different and go for a second stop. It’s a shame that it didn’t work out, but ultimately, today we just didn’t have the pace we needed.” Leclerc continued.

The team’s home race at Monza is next up, which is likely to be a drubbing for the Ferraris as they lack so much power. Binotto says there’s no getting around the reality of the situation as it is: “We are disappointed and angry, as indeed are our fans and with good reason. It’s a difficult moment in a season that we knew from the start would be a tough one, but it’s at times like this that we need to stand firm and look ahead in order to get over this difficult period. It’s the only way we will get out of this situation.”