Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto has stated that his team are not aiming to become World Champions in 2022, despite finding themselves in a fight with Red Bull at the top of the order. It is often said that nothing short of victory is a failure for the passionate Italian team, but Binotto is keen to manage expectations. Ferrari's campaign got off to a dream start, with runaway leader Charles Leclerc helping them to top both the Drivers' and Constructors' standings. But a fightback from Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez has tilted the title back in Red Bull's favour ahead of the eighth round of the season in Azerbaijan.
Binotto: Our objective is not to win the championship
Ahead of the new season, Binotto set his team the challenge of turning Ferrari into a competitive outfit who are always in the fight for race wins. However, he has not set the Scuderia the target of winning the championship in 2022 and feels that it would be "wrong" to alter the team's ambitions now. "We set our objectives to be back competitive in 2022," Binotto told BBC Sport . "So our objective is to be competitive, not to win the championship, and it would be completely wrong to turn that into: 'Let's try to win the championship because we are so competitive.' "Being competitive is one fact; becoming World Champion is another level of task. [Saying] that is maybe to take off some pressure from the team, but also I think it would be wrong as management to change objectives from the ones we gave them."
Ferrari still need to improve as a team
The long-term aim is and will always be to create a cycle of World Championship wins for Ferrari over a sustained period of time, though. "I think it will take time," admitted Binotto. "Our internal mindset is still we need to improve as a team to be capable of winning a championship. "It doesn't mean we will not do it. Maybe we will do it as soon as possible, but we are conscious of the fact that it is more than only being competitive.
Ferrari staff have the ambition to win
For now, with the wheels already in motion on their long-term plan, Binotto is keen to take the 2022 season race-by-race, without keeping a constant eye on the F1 standings, for finishing top is not the team's goal. "The ambition is there," he added. "Each single person working for Ferrari has the ambition. I don't think I need to remind them. More important is to let them focus on our process of continuous improvement, so each race is an opportunity for lesson-learned review and to build to do something better. "And it is important to stay focused on each single race. We are not looking at the classifications."
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