MARCH 1, 2019

Ferrari knows why it lost the championship

Last year, Ferrari was stronger at the start of the season, but Mercedes developed faster and that made the difference for Mercedes to win both the drivers' and constructors' world championships. After reviewing what happened last year, Ferrari now has identified what went wrong.

Start, Italian GP 2018
© RV Press

By Dan Knutson

Last year, Ferrari was stronger at the start of the season, but Mercedes developed faster and that made the difference for Mercedes to win both the drivers' and constructors' world championships. After reviewing what happened last year, Ferrari now has identified what went wrong.

"In the last few years we showed we knew how to develop the car," Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto said on the final day of preseason testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. "What I believed happened last year, close to the end of the season, was that we had some issues, even on the correlation between the data and the track, from the wind tunnel to the track.

"More than the ability to develop, this is an issue of methodology, to bring to the track something that will have the correct correlation between the project and the track. I think we learned a lot over the winter and that has allowed us to dig deeper into the problems we faced at the end of last season and I think this year's car, given what's showing on track, validates our hard work, so we're confident we solved our issues."

So how will Ferrari attack this new season?

"To beat your competition in every race you always have to be extremely fast," Binotto said, "and this must be the spirit we go into every race with. We have to push all the time, never be happy with what we have already achieved. It's not a matter of being at the same level as the others, the goal has to be to be stronger than the others.

"And for now, we're not yet there, but that remains our goal. I also believe reliability is a determinant element in the course of each season. This year should be closely fought, so every single race, every single point could be crucial. So, for now, I'd like our car to be more reliable than what it is. Having said that, it's important to test to identify the issues and solve them quickly. I'm not alarmed, but if I'd have the technical director of our team next to me, I'd tell him to be fully focused on all areas.