Formula 1

Ferrari: Low-speed performance "not a given" after Monaco pole

Ferrari Formula 1 team principal Mattia Binotto says his team's impressive speed at the Monaco Grand Prix doesn't mean that it will be able to challenge Mercedes and Red Bull at other low-speed circuits in 2021.

Filip Cleeren Jonathan Noble

Edited: Feb 11, 2022, 6:31 PM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Carlos Sainz Jr., Ferrari SF21

Ferrari came into the Monaco weekend as a dark horse for the podium after impressing in Barcelona's slow third sector, which is often a good indication of Monaco pace.

But the Scuderia performed beyond its wildest expectations by setting the pace around the streets of the principality. Charles Leclerc took pole, while his late Q3 crash prevented teammate Carlos Sainz from getting near Leclerc's benchmark, settling for fourth on the grid.

While Leclerc failed to make the race with a driveshaft issue, an undetected leftover from his qualifying crash, Sainz took second behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen, scoring Ferrari's first podium of 2021 and its best result since Leclerc's second place in 2020's season opener in Austria.

Ferrari's prowess in low-speed corners could potentially give it several more opportunities to get onto the podium in 2021, notably in Hungary and Singapore.

But team boss Binotto said a repeat of Monaco is "not a given", preferring to focus on extracting more performance from the SF1000 on all types of circuits, starting with next week's Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

"I think yes, there will be circuits with low-speed corners where we may be again competitive but it's not a given," Binotto said.

"Instead of thinking which circuit again will be competitive, I think we're already focused on Baku, which is the next one and then we will be focused on the following, because there is still some room of exploiting better the car.

"I think that we showed we are well preparing the race weekend, we can at least exploit the best potential of the car itself. There will be some developments coming, not much, but they are still coming and it's important that they are working properly."

Read Also:

Sainz downplayed Ferrari's potential to snatch more podiums away from Mercedes and Red Bull, pointing out Monaco's unique character won't be replicated at other circuits.

When asked when he will be able to challenge for podiums again, Sainz replied: "I think it's a fairly straightforward answer: just look at the characteristics of the Monaco circuit and then try to see which one is the most close to this, you will not find many and you will not find that even those circuits that I'm sure you're thinking of are the same.

"It doesn't mean that we are going to be fighting for pole or fighting for a podium, [with] Mercedes and Red Bull. I believe they still have an advantage on us and it will be very tricky to find ourselves fighting against for a pole position and for a win.

"That's why this weekend, it's also a bit of a tough one to swallow because you don't know when the next chance will come, but we need to take pride of the step forward that we have made and how competitive the car has been this weekend.

"It is not easy to be quick around Monaco and the fact that Charles and me were so quick is thanks also the good performance of the team and how everything has been working this weekend."

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 Why Perez has to become another Mr Saturday

Next article McLaren Gulf Oil Formula 1 livery remains a one-off for now

Top Comments

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

View More & Comment

Latest news

Yamaha may not be competitive immediately in MotoGP's 850cc era, says Pramac

MotoGP

MGP MotoGP

Qatar GP

52 min

Yamaha may not be competitive immediately in MotoGP's 850cc era, says Pramac

With rallying back in the spotlight, it could probably teach F1 a thing or two

Formula 1

With rallying back in the spotlight, it could probably teach F1 a thing or two

You Ask The Questions: Jack Miller

MotoGP

Qatar GP

You Ask The Questions: Jack Miller

Why the anticlimactic WEC title showdown was the worst-case scenario

WEC

WEC WEC

Monza

4 h

Why the anticlimactic WEC title showdown was the worst-case scenario

Feature

Discover prime content

With rallying back in the spotlight, it could probably teach F1 a thing or two

Formula 1

By Maurice Hamilton

With rallying back in the spotlight, it could probably teach F1 a thing or two

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

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