Breaking news

Formula 1 Hungarian GP

Binotto: Ferrari has added downforce to its 2019 F1 car

Ferrari has successfully added downforce to its Formula 1 car but believes it is still not at the level it needs to be, according to team principal Mattia Binotto.

Scott Mitchell

Published: Aug 3, 2019, 8:27 AM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF90

After prioritising a more aerodynamically efficient car for the start of the season Ferrari has enjoyed a straightline speed advantage over its rivals but has lost too much performance in the corners to compete regularly with Mercedes and even Red Bull.

It is still yet to win a race in 2019 but has pursued more downforce with a change in development direction and Binotto is curious to measure Ferrari's progress in this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

Asked if Ferrari’s pace in Germany last week, including the rain-hit race, was a sign of the car enjoying extra downforce, Binotto answered: “Have we improved our downforce yet, are we we where we should be? Not yet. Therefore the downforce levels, there is still some development required.

“But the car has improved. Certainly we have learned how to use it in terms of set-up, but certainly we have put some more downforce on the car as well.

“There is still a long way to go. I’m quite curious to see what happens this weekend [in Hungary].

“It’s a track where downforce is important, I’m expecting our competitors to be stronger and stronger but I think we can start to challenge them. Hungary will be important for us to understand where we are.”

Ferrari SF90 bargeboard detail

Photo by: Giorgio Piola

Ferrari has become the latest team to incorporate boomerang-shaped wings into its bargeboard package for this weekend’s Hungaroring event.

The top element is attached to one of the fins and the bottom element is mounted further back and lower down.

Binotto said of the revised bargeboards: “We are not transforming completely the car but again it’s showing we keep pushing and developing.

“Whenever we can, we try to bring some developments and improvements.

“It’s small steps in the right direction but hopefully that will give us some more pace.”

A rain-hit second practice session made it difficult to draw firm conclusions on Friday in Hungary.

However, Sebastian Vettel was in the mix in FP1, lapping within 0.2s of the pace, and though Charles Leclerc struggled more with the set-up of his car the 21-year-old felt Ferrari’s upgrade had produced a “positive step”.

“This is always good to see that the pieces we are putting on are working as expected,” he said. “But the balance didn't feel good.”

Leclerc believes there is “quite a lot of laptime” in improving his car’s balance for qualifying.

“It's a track where you need a lot of downforce, we knew it would be a difficult track for us,” he added.

“I am just struggling with overall grip, so we need to try to understand what is going on to try and help me a little bit, and I will focus on my driving to see what we can fix.”

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF90

Photo by: Zak Mauger / LAT Images

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article Honda has more power than Mercedes "in some places" - Hamilton

Next article Why Alfa Romeo might've preferred disqualification in Germany

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

‘Lewis suspected a conspiracy’ – Nico Rosberg explains how Lewis Hamilton F1 rivalry went awry at Mercedes

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1 11 min

‘Lewis suspected a conspiracy’ – Nico Rosberg explains how Lewis Hamilton F1 rivalry went awry at Mercedes

BMW "proud of what we achieved" after securing runner-up in 2026 WEC

WEC

WEC WEC

Monza

1 h

BMW "proud of what we achieved" after securing runner-up in 2026 WEC

The numbers that reveal how sprint races have turned the MotoGP title fight upside down

MotoGP

MGP MotoGP

Qatar GP

3 h

The numbers that reveal how sprint races have turned the MotoGP title fight upside down

2027 Formula E drivers and teams: The line-up so far

Formula E

FE Formula E 5 h

2027 Formula E drivers and teams: The line-up so far

Feature

Discover prime content

How seizing every chance – and making it happen – keeps Pierre Gasly’s fire burning

Formula 1

By Jake Boxall-Legge

How seizing every chance – and making it happen – keeps Pierre Gasly’s fire burning

Tough love and F1 titles – A key life lesson behind Wolff's Mercedes success

Formula 1

Sao Paulo GP

By Ronald Vording

Tough love and F1 titles – A key life lesson behind Wolff's Mercedes success

How Brazil showcased everything that's good about F1 - plus some that isn't

Formula 1

Sao Paulo GP

By Filip Cleeren

How Brazil showcased everything that's good about F1 - plus some that isn't

Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s

Formula 1

By Kevin Turner

Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts