Ferrari Say They Don’t Have Big F1 Engine Advantage Over Mercedes

Ferrari has been on a roll in Formula 1 in recent weeks, having won three of the past four Grand Prix while displaying a clear straight line advantage over the opposition.

However, when asked by Autosport if he was surprised by his team’s engine advantage as other manufacturers are converging, Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto stated: “I would not agree fully with what you said.”

“Firstly I don’t think that the others are converging. I still believe that there are differences between all four manufacturers. We are probably the more powerful engine, but I don’t think that the others are all on the same level at all.”

“And I think that our advantage is not as big as you may think. We’ve got quite a big delta speed to the others, but that’s down to the car as well, and the drag.”

Binotto went on to say that while there is an advantage as far as power units are concerned, it is definitely not as massive as what “Mercedes had in the past, when they were simply the best engine.”

Also read: McLaren Expects To Challenge Mercedes With Same Engine, But Not In 2021

In order to obtain better straight line speed, the Scuderia decided to prioritize a more aerodynamically efficient car for this year, at the cost of higher peak downforce. The result is obvious – Ferrari’s gain over Mercedes on the straights in Russia was as much as 0.7 seconds.

As for how Mercedes feel about their new situation, so to speak, team boss Toto Wolff had this to say: “I think you’ve just got to acknowledge that there is a certain gap that is almost uncatchable, but we’ve got to do an even better job of putting a good chassis on the track, and understanding the tires, and running the right race strategy.”

“I think this is where our opportunities lie, clearly with their [Ferrari’s] kind of power unit performance we shouldn’t be expecting to dominate the coming weekends.”