Binoto: How the Ferrari F1-75 will develop and the struggle with Ferstappen

Max Ferstappen got the rematch in Saudi Arabia from Charles Leclerc for Monaco’s victory in Bahrain in a race that was judged by a half-second difference – and Matthias Binotto, Ferrari’s race director, explained that only small details in Jeddah’s setup , will from now on judge the victories at the upcoming Formula 1 GPs.

In the Arabian port city, Ferrari chose to tune the F1-75 for slightly more lift (vertical aerodynamic pressure, at free power), which gave it better traction at slow and medium speeds. Red Bull Racing decided to slightly reduce the lift on Ferstappen’s RB18 so it was faster in fast corners and straight lines.

“We saw that Max had higher lift settings on Saturday and then capped them“explained the Italian.”We decided to keep a little more lift because we thought it was important for tire wear management.

During the race, however, the wear (ss: of the hard rubber, after the pit stops) was significantly less. So I see that’s your choice [Red Bull Racing] needs analysis on our part. But in general it’s always a compromise. Both options were good. And it was these details that decided the victory in the end“, he added.

This was confirmed by RBR director Christian Horner “We definitely came here with the decision to have a little less buoyancy and it paid off.”but race winner Max Ferstappen focused more on the issue of tires – which are already affected by more or less lift.

“I wasn’t so happy with the middle eraser. Every time you approached the front car, the tires wouldn’t work. It was annoying waiting for the pit stop but once we put on the hard tires I felt a lot better‘ said the Dutchman.

The “strategic” evolution of the Ferrari F1-75

Aside from the details of setup that will judge Ferrari’s struggles with RBR this year, much will depend on the pace of development of this year’s two cars. It’s a difficult equation, as teams must meet this year’s $140 million budget limit — and therefore choose carefully when to upgrade their cars.

The Ferrari F1-75 has remained virtually unchanged since the day it was unveiled, while the Red Bull RB18 received its first upgrade on the final day of winter testing in Bahrain.

Speaking about the F1-75 development plan, when asked when an upgrade will be ready, Binoto explained: “The question is not only when we will be ready, but also the question of the budget limit and the effort not to spend what we have in the first few races. As such, we don’t expect any significant upgrades for the next race in Melbourne – if we can bring something new, we will.”