Binotto cautious of Racing Point threat

Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto admits that he is concerned about the strong pace shown by Racing Point in pre-season testing as the two teams ran near identical race simulations on Thursday in Barcelona.

The heavily Mercedes inspired Racing Point RP20 has been a consistent front runner in pre-season testing and the Ferrari boss admits that the times have caught his attention.

“They are certainly very close,” Binotto told Sky Sports F1. “I think it’s not surprising if you look at the shape of the car.

“Certainly they are a threat, but I am convinced as well that Ferrari as a team is strong enough to develop the car from now onward and to make sure that in the future we will be strong enough not to be threatened.”

Sebastian Vettel set Ferrari's fastest time of pre-season testing on Thursday with a 1:16.841, but this time is still over a second slower than the flying lap of Valtteri Bottas in the Mercedes.

Mercedes in trouble as Ferrari go fastestFerrari fastest on Thursday in BarcelonaRead more

Unfortunately for Ferrari fans, Binotto is not expecting any leaps forward in pace ahead of the season opening Australian Grand Prix on March 15.

“Honestly I don’t think so,” Binotto continued. “We know what we are doing and we know if we’ve got margin or not. If you look at the race simulation pace, it’s true that today Hamilton had an issue, but if you have a look at the initial stint the speed he’s got is quite impressive.”

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