Ferrari rise from a 40-year low is 'not beyond expectations' - Binotto

Mattia Binotto has denied Ferrari is performing “beyond expectations” following its comeback from its worst season for 40 years last term.

The team, which has welcomed Carlos Sainz alongside Charles Leclerc this season, is already almost halfway towards matching the 131 points it scored in 17 races last year after collecting 60 from the first four this year.

Leclerc and Sainz finished fourth and fifth in Imola two races ago and may have achieved the same in the last race in Spain had Sainz not made a sluggish start from sixth on the grid and found himself behind the slower McLarens for much of the race.

Asked if the team was now performing beyond expectations, team principal Binotto said: “I don’t know if that is right. I think that we made a lot of progress and that is good to see.

“The team has shown they know they are capable of addressing the weaknesses and, compared to last year where we were lapped at the end of the race and were 1.5 seconds off pole, overall the team addressed some of the weaknesses.

“It will take time to become even stronger but I think this team is great and is capable and I am pretty sure that can give us the right satisfaction in the future.

“Beyond expectations I am not sure is the right answer but I am pretty pleased because in the end, it is a great result from where we were last year.”

Binotto said the success in Barcelona, a track that tests cars across a range of different challenges, gives him confidence this could be a good season for the team.

“We are pretty happy with the weekend," added Binotto. "We worked to our objective, which was to pinpoint the constructors' and finish as high as possible, fourth and seventh being good results.

“We know Barcelona is a difficult circuit and if you do well there, you will do well at many circuits. Overall, the car has performed as expected, not only in quali but I think we had good pace.”

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