Ferrari is putting everything to the test: are there consequences?

It was a symbolic image: Mattia Binotto was sitting in a tiny room during the video analysis in Budapest, her back turned to the wall. He was flanked by his two disappointed drivers Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc, who were even lapped by the outstanding Lewis Hamilton in a Mercedes in the Hungarian Grand Prix - the maximum penalty. Binotto admitted that it was very painful “for us and our fans.” From Ferrari's point of view, the first three races are over, worse than feared. The start of the season brought no reason to be happy. Above all, people are puzzled about the new car and its potential. Mattia Binotto in criticism: The Ferrari boss has to get the shaky team on track. © APA/afp / JOE KLAMAR

Vettel and Leclerc know that they will not stop Hamilton on the way to his seventh World Cup triumph in the Corona emergency season. When asked how the 35-year-old could be stopped from doing so, Vettel replied: “If Valtteri becomes world champion.” He was referring to Hamilton’s team-mate Bottas, but Hamilton also had the Finn well under control in Hungary. Mercedes is miles ahead Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff exults: “The car and the engine are a bit of a beast, exactly what we needed. It's a car that drivers like.” Ferrari can't say that about its racing car. The quality of the Mercedes is miles away.

“We can only close the gap once we understand why our car is so slow,” was Binotto’s almost desperate comment. And everything and everyone should obviously be put to the test after returning home. “Everyone will have to analyze their work and have the courage to change course if necessary, because the current dynamic is not acceptable,” the Ferrari team boss made clear. Rolling heads at Ferrari? There is speculation... There is no other solution “to get this situation under control”. Binotto did not comment on this in detail. “Do heads roll?” she asked Journal of Sport and gave himself the speculative answer: “Yes, if it means that the various departments function better.” Charles Leclerc didn't even get into the points in Hungary and was also lapped. © APA/afp

As team boss, Binotto himself is largely responsible for the performance of the racing team - from disappointing results to internal team collisions and the early retirement of both cars in the second race on Sunday a week ago in Spielberg. He has been Ferrari team boss since January 2019. The mechanical engineer replaced former cigarette manager Maurizio Arrivabene and was supposed to lead the Scuderia to its first drivers' title since 2007 (Kimi Räikkönen).

But Ferrari is currently miles away from these high standards. After three races, Leclerc, who was lucky to be second in the opening race in Austria, and Vettel are only seventh and tenth respectively in the World Championship. And in the constructors' championship, Ferrari is only fifth and therefore only mediocre. It's no wonder that there is already a lot of speculation about Binotto's transfer fee.

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Ferrari is putting everything to the test: are there consequences?

Things are not going well at Ferrari. Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc were badly punished at the Hungarian GP at the weekend. Now everything at the Scuderia is being put to the test - there is already speculation about the personnel consequences.

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