F1 | Ferrari is satisfied with new power unit upgrades and pace against McLaren at COTA, says Binotto
Ferrari made some updates on its power unit recently which led to a double point-finish for its drivers at COTA. The team principal of the Prancing Horse is satisfied with the result but he wants more.
Ferrari is coming back to score very positive results. The Italian team had to adjust its new car, putting on some new updates to their power unit. The first tests were positive but the Prancing Horse chose to not talk about the improvements… until now.
In America, Ferrari had been able to finish in the points zone with both cars. The final results were middle-field range but nevertheless, Mattia Binotto is happy with them, as it means the work they have been doing on the power unit is paying off dividends.
“If you look generally speaking this season McLaren has been always very competitive in medium, high-speed corners and again it is the case here in Austin. But I think if I look at the overall performance this weekend we have been ahead of them,” said Binotto in a post-race talk with F1.com.
The team principal starts to analyse the performance of the car driven by Charles Leclerc. “This was [evident] in quali and Charles… finished 25 seconds ahead of Ricciardo. Generally speaking in the overall balance of the lap we have been clearly fastest this weekend. That’s is why I think it’s a shame with Carlos not having been ahead of the end of the race with Charles.”
If we consider the general situation, the Italians were behind the top teams with a big gap to close but the actual solution is reducing it quickly, providing them good performances and positive expectations to end the season in P3.
Good points haul to close the gap
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“If you consider last year, it’s a really big step forwards. We still know there is a gap to the best engine today, but we believe that that gap is not so dramatic... ”- Binotto comments.
“On paper it [COTA] was not a circuit that was suiting obviously our car so that’s why I am pleased with progress we have seen in the last races, certainly helped by the power unit in the quali and the race and that gives me confidence as well for the next races,” he added.
At this point, the expectations will be all on Mexico, to see if they will be fulfilled.
