Mattia Binotto on why Ferrari are extra motivated for Chinese GP

Chinese GP

Why Ferrari are extra motivated for Chinese GP

Can they get their first win of 2019?

Matthew Scott

Monday 8 April 2019 16:23

Hoping to right the wrongs of the Bahrain Grand Prix and taking part in the 1000th world championship race ensure that Ferrari will be extra motivated to perform and triumph at the Chinese Grand Prix, according to team principal Mattia Binotto.

As in Sakhir, the Scuderia travel to Shanghai as strong favourites, with the China circuit's long straights set to play into the hands of the SF90.

However, dominance in Bahrain soon turned to disappointment as Charles Leclerc suffered an engine failure from the lead and Sebastian Vettel spun out of contention.

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With F1's milestone race also arriving this weekend, Binotto says the Maranello squad ae determined to take the fight to Mercedes, who lead both championships after taking one-two finishes in each of 2019's races so far.

"The third round of the season takes place at a track that is different in character to those in Melbourne and Bahrain," Binotto said.

"Here, we have a very long straight and corners that put an uncommon amount of load on the front end.

"For our part, we want to verify that the SF90 is also competitive on this type of track and ensure that the reliability problems we had in Bahrain are not repeated.

"As usual, we want to do well and take on our competitors. It will be race number 1000 in the history of Formula 1, which is a further reason to try and excel."

Ferrari have not won in China in the V6 Hybrid era, with Vettel seeing pole position result in an eighth-place finish last year after an unfortunately timed safety car and collision with Max Verstappen.