DECEMBER 11, 2019

Current Ferrari lineup not explosive

Mattia Binotto insists it is not "difficult" to manage Ferrari's current driver lineup.

Mattia Binotto insists it is not "difficult" to manage Ferrari's current driver lineup.

With Sebastian Vettel alongside Charles Leclerc labelled by some as too "explosive", the hot rumour at present is that six-time world champion Lewis Hamilton could be heading to Maranello for 2021.

But team boss Binotto is backing the current lineup, including the under-fire quadruple world champion Vettel.

"We have a great driver pairing, not an explosive one," the Italian told Auto Motor und Sport.

"What happened in Brazil should not happen, but outside the car, Sebastian and Charles are good with each other. They know that the collision was unacceptable and talked about it in private.

"They know where we want to go, and they know that in the first place the team always comes first. There is a good atmosphere," Binotto insisted.

"The perception from the outside is deceptive. I do not think it's difficult to manage them."

Binotto is even avoiding the temptation to resolve the issues between Vettel and Hamilton by mimicking the way Mercedes imposed a set of rules to calm Hamilton's explosive pairing with Nico Rosberg.

"I don't know what Mercedes did back then so I don't want to compare," he said.

"At the moment I see no reason for rules. I expect my drivers to be smart enough to avoid it in the future."

Binotto also defended the under-fire Vettel, saying the main problem was that the German simply "lacked confidence with the car" early in 2019.

"The more downforce we found, the more that confidence returned," he said. "Charles was a good benchmark for him.

"What I liked about Sebastian was the way he stayed calm and worked hard and analytically to understand what he had to improve with himself and with the car," Binotto continued.

(GMM)