Head of the Italian team, Mattia Binotto tried to calm expectations and said that "being competitive is one thing, winning the world title is another" - but stressed that he hopes to see Ferrari champion "sooner or later".
In an interview with the French website Nextgen-Auto, Mattia Binotto made a point of lowering the expectations of fans, press and the Formula 1 paddock regarding Ferrari. According to the head of the Italian team, the internal goal set for the first season of the new era of the category has always been to fight for the title - and not necessarily to win it.
After seven races this season, Ferrari has 199 points in the Constructors' World Championship, which puts it in second place. At the moment, it is 36 behind leader Red Bull - the Maranello team's main rival in 2022.
"Our goals were to be competitive again in 2022. So, we want to be competitive, not win the championship, and it would be bad to turn this into: 'Let's try to win the championship because we are very competitive. Being competitive is one thing, being world champion is another task," Binotto clarified. "Maybe by saying that, I take some of the pressure off the team, but I also think it would not be good management on my part to change the goals we had given them," he said.
"There is no doubt that we are trying to start a new cycle. We want to be world champions, not once, but several times, and stay on top. But I think that takes time. Our mentality is that we have to keep improving as a team to be able to win a championship," added the head of the Italian team, in charge since 2019. "That doesn't mean we won't get there. Maybe we will get there sooner or later, but we realize that being competitive will not be enough," he added.
"The ambition is there. Everyone who works for Ferrari has ambition - I don't think I need to remind them. The most important thing is to let them focus on what they need to do to keep improving, so that every race becomes an opportunity to become stronger. And it's important to be focused on each race. We don't look at the leaderboards," Binotto preached.
The Italian team boss also talked about his driver duo. According to Binotto, Leclerc has shown service from the first moment he put on the Ferrari colors, while Sainz shows himself to be a driver - just like the Monegasque - capable of winning titles.
"We knew Charles had great potential. When we put him in our car for 2019, he proved from the first session that he was very fast and talented. His way of attacking and defending showed us what he was capable of. We knew he needed to improve in terms of maturity, leadership and tire management, and I think the more seasons that went by, the more confident we were that he would become a fantastic driver," Binotto ripped into praise.
"We believed in the fact that he could become a world champion and a great leader for the team. As for Carlos, he is very fast and I am convinced that he can also win championships," he finished.