F1 | Binotto admits third place for Ferrari in 2020 is "very difficult" to achieve
Ferrari declared it will be very difficult to fight for third place in the F1 Constructors' Standings considering the car's poor performance and lack of points.
According to the current Constructors' Standings, Ferrari is in sixth position with 103 points and Racing Point (134), McLaren (134) and Renault (135) are positioned ahead of the Italian team and are doing everything possible to defend their position.
Based on the points earned during the races, Ferrari is now 33 points behind Racing Point.
Resuming a little bit the current situation at Ferrari, Sebastian Vettel is having a hard time finding a set-up with his car, thus struggling to get into the points and, certainly, the team is not able to face the other teams in the midfield battle.
Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto affirmed the team was eager to do better even if, unfortunately, the little time left and the poor performance of the car suggest that the squad no longer has many possibilities to redeem itself.
"Certainly I think that to try to move up in the championship will be great, but if you look at Imola, we didn't gain any points and we lost ground to one team," he also referred to the third place achieved by Renault with Daniel Ricciardo during the last Grand Prix.
"The battle is very tight, but I think that the car has improved. So we will try, and I think certainly our objective is try to catch up someone. But there are only four races to go, so it will be somehow very difficult."
The 2020 season was not a good start for Ferrari which started with a low-powered engine and a car that was not sufficiently aerodynamically developed.
It must also be said that Ferrari has been clear about its return to the front row as a long-term project. In an interview with Sky Italia, Binotto stated that the goal to be achieved next year is to return to fight for podiums regularly.
"We got the project wrong, looking for a path of development that turned out to be wrong,
"Then COVID arrived, stopping work on the car, and this penalized us for the whole season.
"We had to comply with the measures that caused nine weeks of work stoppage, plus immediately afterwards it was decided to freeze the 2020 projects. I see this season in a different context than normal but we will be able to react.
"We have very challenging goals for 2021. I see a very united team that wants to do well. It feels the weight of responsibility and the desire to redeem itself.
"Next year we will have a completely new engine that is running well on the test bench. We have ideas about the car, but we can't work miracles with windtunnel hours reduced compared to the past. But I'm sure this team is alive, and we'll take it a step further. Now it's up to us to prove it.
"Realistically Ferrari will not be able to fight for the world title in 2021. Next year we have to go back to fighting regularly for the podium. That's our goal" he concluded.
