© Jiri Krenek for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Lewis Hamilton recently said that Ferrari might be “several months ahead” of their rivals in terms of their car’s development. Mattia Binotto gives his answer.
While talking about Mercedes’ rival’s chances in the 2022 season, Lewis Hamilton suggested that Ferrari’s might have had more opportunities to focus on their new car throughout 2021.
“You would assume they perhaps didn’t do as much development last year and just put everything into this car,” the Briton said.
“So does that mean they’re several months ahead?” he asked.
Well, Ferrari did impress at the Barcelona test, but the team’s boss Mattia Binotto doesn’t think this necessarily means they will be able to challenge the top teams for the championship.
When asked about Hamilton’s comments, the Italian said he believes Mercedes will still be at the front.
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“I’m sure once we get to Bahrain, it will actually be them who are two or three months ahead,” Binotto told Sky Italia.
“It was important for us to create a good basis, but we have a very long season ahead of us and I expect very strong competition from the first race.”
Binotto added that it’s normal for teams not to reveal their true power during testing.
“Racing teams hide the true potential of their cars, some more than the others. It’s much too early to be able to correctly assess the performance of the various cars.”
He also said he believes the teams will get closer to each other as they develop throughout the season.
“I’m assuming the field will get even closer as the season progresses,” the Italian concluded.
