Ferrari have set out their policy for how they would manage their drivers if the team find themselves fighting for a championship. There has been much talk about the Scuderia's 2022 prospects ahead of the season, with some of their rivals - including Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff - predicting that Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz could be in the title battle . Whilst the team themselves are being cautiously optimistic about this possibility , Team Principal Mattia Binotto says that, should this happen, they would not initially favour one driver over another. "In terms of drivers, as we have often said, that [will be] the track that will dictate it," Binotto told media including RacingNews365.com . "The priority is always the team but, no doubt, if they can compete for an important position in the championship, that will be the track that will tell who's ahead."
Ferrari will not have a number one driver
Binotto acknowledges that having a talented driver is not always enough in a championship fight, given the bad luck events that can happen such as reliability problems or crashes. Ultimately, though, the team will not take the position of having a number one driver. "Sometimes, I think it's not only about driver talent and driver capacity," Binotto said. "A driver can be unfortunate, and having damages, reliability issues, crashes. So I don't think that we need, at that stage certainly, we will not have a policy of number one or number two, but we simply discuss it based on positions on track whenever it will become." Ferrari had a new driver line-up in 2021 after Sainz joined the team from McLaren to replace Sebastian Vettel, whilst Leclerc - who has a multi-year contract until 2024 - went into his third season with the Scuderia. Sainz had a strong start to his career with the Italian squad and finished the campaign fifth in the World Championship standings, ahead of Leclerc in seventh.
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