Despite being faster than Red Bull for stretches of the season, Ferrari has been unable to mount a sustained challenge for both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships.
Charles Leclerc, the lead driver for Ferrari, is 116 points behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in the standings, while Ferrari is 139 points behind Red Bull in the constructors’ standings.
Ferrari has frequently been criticised for their tactics and operations during Grands Prix, in addition to reliability issues and driver mistakes.
Some fans and pundits criticised Ferrari’s decision to switch Leclerc from a one-stop strategy to a two-stop strategy at the Italian GP, though some defended the decision, thinking that Ferrari was unlikely to win the race anyway.
More strategic issues arose for Leclerc in Hungary, when they switched to Hard-compound tyres, struggled for pace, and fell off the podium.
Similarly, at the Belgian GP, Ferrari pitted Leclerc for fresh Soft tyres in order to challenge for the fastest lap, but the fine margins of this call put Leclerc behind Alpine’s Fernando Alonso and triggered a pit lane speeding offence and a time penalty.
Binotto, who has been a strong defender of his team, admitted in a recent interview that changes may be required, but not necessarily to individuals.
“We don’t have to change people, but we certainly have to change some things,” Binotto admitted to Sky F1.
“The way we communicate, the way we make our decisions … changes are necessary.
“It might be necessary to add value and maybe adding people. But changing people is not a way I want to go, it’s an old way of tackling problems.”
Mercedes, despite being off the pace of Ferrari and Red Bull, have had remarkable reliability, and they have frequently claimed podiums following race-day mishaps to the top two teams.
Binotto was asked what his team’s reaction would be if they finished third in the championship this season after Mercedes just 35 points behind Ferrari.
“It will be painful, for the result and for the way we started the season, I think it will prove that we didn’t improve the car well enough during the season,” said Binotto.
“And it shows that there have been too many mistakes, but we are in front, and our intention is to stay in front,” he added.
