Mattia Binotto admits that Ferrari have to accept that their car is not "fully reliable" after the team suffered a double retirement from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Carlos Sainz was the first to hit trouble on Lap 9 of the race, with his F1-75 suffering a hydraulic problem. Then, on Lap 21, smoke started to billow from the rear of Charles Leclerc's machine, and the Monegasque was forced to make his way back to the pits to retire from the lead. Team boss Binotto was forced to acknowledge that the latest issues are a worry for the Italian outfit. "Certainly it's a concern," Binotto told Sky Sports F1 . "I think we said it even before coming here to Baku. Reliability is always a factor, which is a key factor in the battle, as the performance [is]. "As a team, we pushed a lot through the winter last year to develop the car. We've proved that we are not yet fully reliable. There is still some work to be done." However, Binotto insists that the squad will not become downhearted by the problems, just as they were not carried away by their strong form at the start of the season. "I think the team will stay focused, work hard, [and] try to address those issues to make us stronger for the future," he added.
Are there any solutions in place?
When asked if there are already some solutions in the pipeline, Binotto explained: "I think at first we need to understand and analyse what happened today. "Not all these issues are the same. Maybe some of these are a very quick fix, I don't know yet. Honestly, I think we need to take some time to analyse, to understand. "Maybe some are the same [as issues in] the past, maybe not." Binotto was then quizzed on whether the issues experienced at previous events – such as Leclerc's retirement from the Spanish Grand Prix – were related to the latest problems. The Italian feels that they are "unrelated".
Extra analysis over problems of Ferrari customer teams
Additionally, there were retirements for some Ferrari customer teams at the Baku City Circuit, with the Alfa Romeo of Zhou Guanyu and the Haas of Kevin Magnussen both recording DNFs due to mechanical problems. "I think we need to analyse those ones," Binotto said. "I think maybe the [retirement] of Zhou is not related to our supply components. But again, something to look at. Overall, whatever is happening there, it's always useful. "The reason why we're supplying customer teams is not for our business, it's more to have technical feedback. "So whatever is happening, it's certainly useful, and we'll take our time to analyse those components as much we're doing for the ones which are featured on the red cars."
Most read
