Ferrari: We are united despite difficult 2019

Ferrari

Ferrari: We are united despite difficult 2019

Mattia Binotto looks back on Vettel-Leclerc dynamic.

Martin Macdonald

Sunday 5 January 2020 16:00

Mattia Binotto insists the team spirit at Ferrari continues to grow since a difficult 2019 season which saw them finish second in the constructors’ championship some distance behind the eventual winners, Mercedes.

It was a tumultuous campaign for the Scuderia as not only did they have a new team principal in Binotto, but had to integrate rookie driver Charles Leclerc as partner to four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel.

They had to endure allegations of potentially illegal gains in their car at the midpoint of the campaign which they vehemently denied, and also had to, more than once, explain team order decisions. According to Binotto, though, the mood is positive ahead of 2020.

"I am really happy with how the team spirit has grown," he told Ferrari’s official magazine.

"We are very united, compact, including the drivers, despite what some people insinuate.”

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The insinuation which Binotto refers to is to do with the dynamic between Leclerc and Vettel, as their relationship became fractured at points due to the emergence of the former coinciding with a severe drop in form for the German.

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Things hit boiling point at the Brazilian Grand Prix when they collided with just six laps to go, ending the team’s assault on a podium spot.

However, Binotto has used the aftermath of this incident as an example of how team spirit is growing as Leclerc and Vettel both got together to apologise.

"An example? On the Tuesday following the incident they were involved in at the Brazil Grand Prix, my phone rang and on the display I saw the names of Seb and Charles, together,” he revealed.

"They'd been in touch with each other, they'd cleared things up, and they called me together for a three-way call.

"It wasn't just a gesture, and it really showed an impressive united spirit. And anyway, regarding Brazil, it's better that such an episode happens now, it will help us to understand each other better for next year."