Binotto dares to secretly dream of winning in Mexico: 'Gap is smaller'
F1 News
- GPblog.com
The Mexican Grand Prix is next on the program of Formula 1. Ferrari travel to the race in Mexico City with high hopes and believe the high altitude circuit offers a chance to finish on the podium again.
Racing at an exceptional altitude
The Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico is a special track. It is located at an altitude of 2.2 kilometres. The engines will suffer from the very thin air and the turbocharger has to compensate the power drop by using more of the supercharger.
Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto says in conversation with the Italian branch of Motorsport.com that the circuit in Mexico will suit the SF21 best, but he doesn't want to talk about a victory just yet. For that, something will probably have to go wrong for title contenders Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.
Ferrari continues to make progress
"I'm happy with the progress I've seen in the last few races and it gives me some confidence for the next few races, especially in Mexico where we'll be running with maximum downforce on a track that is less sensitive to power, so the gap to Mercedes will be smaller. I can say that the Mexican track will be more favourable to us than the one in Austin," explained Binotto.
"In Austin, although we were using maximum downforce, we were almost able to match the speed of the others. Considering the difficulties of last year there has definitely been a big step forward: of course, there is still a gap to the best engine, but now we believe the gap is no longer so dramatic," he concludes.