“Not Just Ferrari That Accepts Compromises”- Mattia Binotto Criticizes Mercedes Over Reverse Grid Races

Ferrari and Mercedes have been bitter rivals for the better part of the last decade. The contrast between the two teams’ fortunes, in the last 6 years, couldn’t be any starker.

The former is currently a shell of the team that it used to be. The latter, on the other hand, has swept the F1 world by storm, winning 6 consecutive Constructors’ championships.

Both teams seldom agree on any matter. Even when the FIA proposed the idea of reverse grid racing for the Styrian Grand Prix, Mercedes rejected the idea whereas Ferrari stood by it, unsurprisingly.

And before the Austrian Grand Prix, Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto made sure to take a veiled jab at the Silver arrows for opposing the idea.

Ferrari boss insists that they shouldn’t be the only team to make compromises

According to Motorsport-Total, Binotto took a dig at Mercedes at the big press conference ahead of the Austrian GP. He said, “My hope is that it’s not just Ferrari that accepts compromises. I was disappointed that the sprint race format was rejected by a single team.

“Because I am convinced that if everyone looked at their own advantage, many decisions that we made during the shutdown would not have been possible.”

If Binotto was trying to throw Mercedes’ game off, then he missed his shot by a mile. Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas won the season opener following which, Lewis Hamilton clinched the second race, with Bottas finishing at P2.

That leaves Mercedes with 80 points after the completion of the first two races. The Brackley based outfit currently stands 41 points clear of McLaren in second place.

On the other hand, Ferrari only managed 19 points after the first two races. All of these 19 points came in the season opener itself.

The second race was a catastrophe for the Maranello based outfit. The race saw both Ferrari cars retiring within the first few laps following a collision between Charles Leclerc and his teammate, Sebastian Vettel.

The start of the season has been so bad for the prancing horses that Ferrari’s management is already on the lookout for Mattia Binotto’s replacement.

Can Binotto and Ferrari redeem themselves? We’ll soon find out at this week’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

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