FERRARI have made a false start to the season after revealing that they have little chance of winning in Austria this weekend.
The F1 season will finally start at the Red Bull Ring after going into lockdown following the cancellation of the Australian GP back in March.
Ferrari chief Mattia Binotto says Ferrari are not ready for Austria GP
A total of 10 races were either cancelled or scrapped all together but now, after a break of three and a half months, Ferrari chief Mattia Binotto says they aren’t ready.
He said: “We know that, at the moment, we don’t have the fastest package. We knew it before heading for Melbourne and that hasn’t changed.”
Binotto is hoping that the factory in Maranello will be able to bring new parts to help take the challenge to Mercedes and Red Bull in time for the third race of the season in Hungary.
Binotto said the delay in production was caused after they changed their car designs after a poor winter testing back in February in Barcelona.
He added: “The truth is that the outcome of the tests led us to take a significant change of direction in terms of development, especially on the aerodynamic front.
“First, we had to understand why we did not see the results we had expected on track and how much to re-calibrate the whole programme as a result.
“It would have been counterproductive to continue in the direction we had planned, knowing that we would not have reached our goals.
“Therefore we decided to come up with a new programme that looked at the whole car, knowing that not all of it would be ready for the first race.
“Our aim is to introduce the updates at the third race on 19 July at the Hungaroring.
“Having said that, the Spielberg circuit has different characteristics to Montmelo [Barcelona] and the temperatures will be well above those of February.
“In Austria, we must try and make the most of every opportunity and then in Hungary, with the new development step we are working on, we will be able to see where we are really compared to the others, while having to take into account the developments our competitors themselves will have brought along.”
Lewis Hamilton is set to race in a new, black Mercedes for the 2020 season in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
The British Formula One star has been speaking out in recent weeks – most-notably slamming former boss Bernie Ecclestone for claiming “black people are more racist than white people”.
Lamborghini unveils $3.4million luxury yacht that looks like a supercar – with a space-age cockpit
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
