Ferrari agree to be ‘flexible’ to allow F1 to get back on track as soon as possible amid coronavirus shutdown

FERRARI boss Mattia Binotto says his team are willing to be “flexible” to allow F1 chiefs to run as many races as possible this season.

Binotto says F1’s most famous team, known for their hardline stance when it comes to rules, say they will be open to the sport’s plans once the coronavirus pandemic has scaled down.

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Ferrari chief Mattia Binotto says his team are willing to be ‘flexible’ to run as many races as possible this seasonCredit: Getty Images – Getty

The Ferrari chief is open to double-race weekends to allow the sport achieve F1 CEO Chase Carey’s goal of putting on between 15 and 18 races this season.

He said: “We know from the sporting regulations that to have a world championship you need at least eight races, but everyone is trying to look for more than that.

“I think what will be important for us is really to be flexible. I’m pretty sure Chase and the teams will be capable of putting together the best championship we can have. “From our side, we are ready for whatever is needed whether short race weekends, double races, whenever it will finish or packing the races together.

“It is important to be flexible and making sure we can have good races as well for the fans.

The Canadian GP became the ninth race to be either scrapped or postponed and there is no news yet when the season will finally get underway. Binotto added: “No one can really know [when the season will start].

“F1 is certainly trying to organise the best season, maybe starting early July if that would be possible but we cannot have any confirmation at the moment. But I think by the end of May we will have a clearer picture.

“I think it is in the interests of everyone to start racing when we can, when that will be possible, and have as many races as we can but I think now it’s too early to have a clear picture of what will be the future.”

BUDGET CAP

F1 chiefs were on a conference call on Monday where they discussed plans for a budget cap from the 2021 season.

Smaller teams have been pushing for tighter controls on how much the bigger teams spend.

McLaren boss Zak Brown wants the $175m (£143m) annual cost cap reduced, but Binnotto, whose team spend around double that per year, is not so keen.

He said: “I think we should avoid being emotional at the moment.

“We are fully aware of the difficulties of some teams and we are fully aware we need to address costs for the future of F1 – reducing costs is the first driver of making sure each single team is surviving.

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“We are discussing a budget-cap reduction but we should not forget in doing that exercise that we’ve got different structures, and different assets.

“There are teams which are constructors like Ferrari and other top teams where we are designing, developing, homologating and producing each single component of our cars.

“Other teams are customers, buying some parts, and do not have the same structures. So when discussing a budget cap we must not forget we have different situations, and it’s important we found a common ground which is suited to the different situations and maybe the answer is not a single budget cap equal for all the teams.”

Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk