With Charles Leclerc’s accident at the French Grand Prix, Ferrari is now in danger of losing the championship completely after Scuderia had not always made the most of its opportunities in previous races.
Leclerc is now 63 points behind World Championship leader Max Verstappen in the drivers’ standings. Things are looking even worse for Ferrari in the Constructors’ Championship. There, the Italians are already 82 points behind Red Bull and even Mercedes are only 44 points short of taking second place.
Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto does not seem to be interested in the standings of the World Championship and emphasizes that it is much more important to have a good car: “I don’t count the points. If I had been asked about our exact deficit before the race in France , I wouldn’t have known because I don’t look at it.”
Binotto aims for Ferrari double victory in Hungary
“We’re focused on doing every single race and getting the maximum out of it. That didn’t happen here at Paul Ricard, but I think we’re already focused on Hungary and getting a one-two there. Every single race counts just like the others the same and only at the end of the season will we draw a conclusion.”
In addition, the World Cup is far from over for Ferrari: “A good package is much more important,” said Binotto. “I see no reason why we can’t all win the remaining ten races.”
“I prefer to stay positive and optimistic. Maybe something else will happen to Max and Red Bull. It’s happened to us before, so maybe it will happen to them again. But I don’t want to rely on that. We have to take care of ourselves look and get the best out of it,” says the Ferrari team boss.
Binotto: There is potential, but not points
While Leclerc was self-critical about his mistake that knocked him out of the French Grand Prix, Binotto is certain the Monegasque’s pace is so good that things could change very quickly.
“What I said to Charles is that things are more complicated now, but not impossible. And we’ll just have more fun if we can still turn it into a win in the end.”
“We have to stay focused in every single race. Looking back at the last few races we’ve always had great potential. It hasn’t translated into the best results in terms of championship points but at the moment there’s no reason why that’s in shouldn’t happen in the next ten races.”
“The potential is there. The drivers are fantastic. So I’m in a very positive mood,” said Binotto.