Ferrari refuse to copy Mercedes' aero design

Ferrari

Ferrari refuse to copy Mercedes' aero design

Mattia Binotto is sticking to his guns.

Matthew Scott

Friday 24 May 2019 11:10

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Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto has ruled out copying Mercedes' 2019 aerodynamic design, despite the Silver Arrows' dominant start to the season. Mercedes have taken one-two finishes in all five races so far this year, and look set to do so again in Monaco this weekend.

Ferrari and their power unit customer team Alfa Romeo turned heads in pre-season when their 2019 car designs were unveiled, with both sporting noticeably different designs of front wings.

Altered aerodynamic regulations for this season had pushed F1's teams down different paths, but the signs suggest that Mercedes got it correct, while Ferrari have struggled.

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However, Binotto believes Ferrari's concept remains sound and just has not yet been maximised to its full potential.

"I think we do not need to change our front wing," he said. "Certainly it's a different concept to Mercedes but it doesn't mean that we have achieved the maximum of its concept today.

"So we are not at the moment foreseeing to change the wing concept.

"The Mercedes style was checked at the start of our concept, it's a comparison we did at the very start which is for one way of development.

"Certainly through the seasons you always try to double check back what you did and [if] it's still the right choice but we do not foresee a change right now.

"In testing in Barcelona we got already some upgrades in the car. Now I think it's time to question ourselves if we should look for different aero targets, how to achieve the final performance.

"I think the performance, it's purely technical. So no doubt that the ingredients are all technical and they are in our control.

"Obviously you need to optimise the tyres' performance but the tyres are common to all the teams. So at the end I think it's down to each single team to develop the car to optimise the full package."