Mattia Binotto, Ferrari Formula 1 team principal, believes Mercedes has yet to recover. He is not convinced that Mercedes has revived after their performance at the Spanish Grand Prix. He thinks its F1 rival is still off paced to contend Maranello outfit.
Last weekend at Barcelona, the German team brought number of upgrades. It paid off to an extent that team put best performance of the season.
George Russell finished third on podium while grabbing his second podium of the year. However, his team-mate, Lewis Hamilton, fought back to fifth place after a lap puncture at the start of the race. He was voted driver of the day.
Toto Wolff, Mercedes F1 boss, appreciated the W13 pace which he claims was the quickest on track. He claims that it has revived their bet to win this year world title.
Binotto is not convinced
Binotto on another hand believes otherwise. He says that Wolff claims require context while he believes Maranello outfit was still faster.
Speaking to Sky, Binotto said: “I think congrats first to them, because they recovered and improved the speed of their car.
“[In qualifying] they were seven-tenths off the pace in the quali lap, which is still a short circuit. [In the race] they finished 30 seconds or more from the Red Bull, and it could have been maybe 40 seconds to Charles [Leclerc].
“Forty seconds, 66 laps, is still six, seven tenths per lap. Six tenths, seven tenths a lap is still significant. It’s like Ferrari last year.”
However, Binotto is not convinced with Mercedes’ progress and claims. Nonetheless, Red Bull is careful about the potential that German team has.
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Christian Horner, Red Bull team boss, is mindful how the tables turn in the sport. Considering the turn around of RB against Ferrari, he thinks Mercedes still has chance.
Horner said: “I think it shows how quickly things can swing.
“I think after Australia we came home 40 points behind and we lead by six going into Monaco a couple of races later. So it just shows in Formula 1, how quickly things can swing and change.
“That’s why I wouldn’t write off Mercedes with the amount of points still available. We know Ferrari has a very quick car. So you know, things can turn around very quickly.”
