02/09/2020
NEWS STORY
The one good thing about the fact that this weekend's Italian Grand Prix will take place behind closed doors is that the various members of the Ferrari team will not be taunted by the tifosi as they enter and leave the paddock each day, though there are always the guaranteed bottlenecks at the various entrances to the Parco di Monza.
Unless there is the mother of all miracles, the Maranello outfit is in for a torrid time this weekend, and even more so at the following week's event at Mugello, at which the legendary team celebrates its 1000th Formula One World Championship start.
Sadly, team boss, Mattia Binotto admits that it will probably get worse before it gets better, and that returning the team to its former glory may take many years.
"The entire team is responsible, myself as team principal first," he admits. "Am I the right man or not, is not myself to answer," he added, referring to his role, which has been the subject of much speculation by the Italian media.
"How long it will take?" he continued. "I think if you look back in all the winning cycles that have been set, it's always many years," he warned, "there are no silver bullets in F1. Patience and stability is required.
"The engine is frozen this season, so there is nothing we can do on that," he admitted. "We are developing it for next season, and it is progressing well on the dyno at the moment.
"On the car there are some restrictions, so what's the plan for us? The main plan is focusing on the next seasons, not only 2021 but also certainly as well 2022. In order to do well in the next season we also need to try to understand the weaknesses of today and make sure that we are addressing them."
Despite the team's poor pace at Spa, which suggests the team will struggle again at power hungry Monza, Binotto believes the ban on engine modes to be introduced this weekend could work in his team's favour.
"It's a circuit where power performance is important, certainly where we are not the best," he said. "It may affect some of the teams. I will be curious to see how much, which team, I think it will be interesting in that respect.
"It's a circuit which has high power sensitivity, especially if it changes a bit the balance of competitiveness in the qualifying itself, and we know how important it is to start ahead, as when you are in traffic it is always more difficult as well to make the car work."
Looking at the bigger picture however, he admitted: "What is happening, in fact, is that we have a car that has lost power... just as all the engine manufacturers have lost it, but we more than the others.
"Last year the engine partly covered the limits of the machine, but this year it is no longer the case. The limits of the machine are emerging. On that point it is clear that we must improve."