Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto believes the squad’s engine advantage is not as large as some think, in spite of its recent straight-line speed prowess.
Ferrari had performed strongly on power-hungry circuits in 2019 and claimed victory in Belgium and Italy – prior to a surprise win in Singapore – and also set the pace in Russia.
It previously also led qualifying in Bahrain, Canada and Austria, where a greater emphasis than usual is placed on overall power output.
But Binotto stressed that “I think today we are probably the more powerful engine, but I don’t think the others are on the same level at all. And I think our advantage is not as big as you may think.
“I think that there is enough, we have quite a big delta speed to the others, but that is down to the car as well, and the drag, and if we come down to the more detailed analysis that we can do in terms of competitor analysis, yes we had an advantage.
“But it’s not huge, like Mercedes had in the past when they had simply the best engine. So we’ve got an advantage, not huge, and the others I don’t think they are on the same level.”
Binotto also outlined that Ferrari will continue to develop its SF90 through the rest of the year due to its intention to retain the same car concept under stable 2020 technical regulations.
“I think whatever you doing on the current car, with the regulations being the same for next year, will be certainly of interest,” he said.
“And I think whatever you are building on this season in terms of overall understanding will be key for next year as well.
“So, that’s why I think we’re still focusing, or putting effort on 2019, not only because we are seeking victories but we know that a good overall car understanding of this season will be of the understanding of next season.”
