Ferrari chairman John Elkann has admitted that the enduring automotive producer’s Formulation One crew “will not be aggressive” after a depressing begin to the 2020 season that has left them far behind dominant Mercedes. “This 12 months, we aren’t aggressive primarily due to a collection of design errors within the automotive,” Elkann stated in an interview with the Gazzetta Dello Sport revealed on Tuesday. “We had a collection of structural weaknesses which were round for a very long time, particularly in aerodynamics. We additionally misplaced engine energy. The truth is that our automotive will not be aggressive. It has been seen on the monitor and it will likely be seen once more.”
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc completed second within the Austrian Grand Prix earlier this month, the primary race of a season delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, but it surely was already clear that the Scuderia’s automotive had issues.
Leclerc and teammate Sebastian Vettel then crashed into one another on the Styrian Grand Prix on the identical monitor per week later, earlier than the pair have been lapped by winner Lewis Hamilton in his Mercedes in Hungary.
4-time world champion Vettel completed sixth on the Hungaroring whereas Leclerc was 11th, forcing crew chief Mattia Binotto to confess he was not shocked after realising at pre-season testing that the SF1000 automotive was slower than hoped.
Leclerc has 18 factors from three races, already considerably behind Lewis Hamilton’s main 63-point haul, whereas Vettel has simply 9.
Ferrari final gained the F1 driver’s championship in 2007 and the constructors’ title a 12 months later, however Elkann, a part of Italy’s highly effective Agnelli household and chairman of Fiat Chrysler, says there’s cause to be optimistic.
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“We’re laying down the premise to be aggressive and begin profitable once more when the (technical) rules change in 2022,” he stated, including that he had “complete confidence in crew precept Mattia Binotto.”
Elkann additionally defended the choice to not provide a brand new contract to Vettel and to construct round Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr, who will arrive in 2021, saying that “the brand new automotive will probably be born with them”.
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