“He had an easier adaptation because it resembled a product he already knew”: Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto on why Charles Leclerc holds the upper hand on Carlos Sainz

Mattia Binotto feels that the F2 experience gained by Charles Leclerc helped him adapt to the 2022 cars more than Carlos Sainz. 

The 2022 season is expected to a defining one for Ferrari. They’ve spent the best part of the last decade in Mercedes’ and Red Bull’s shadow, and want to make the leap up front this year.

After a dismal 2020 campaign, they made some major amends last time about. They finished third in the Constructors’ standings, with an exciting driver pairing of Leclerc and Sainz.

Leclerc has been long tipped to be Ferrari’s next World Champion. However, Sainz finished ahead of the Monegasque in fifth in 2021, which led to many people betting on him to earn glory.

Development has reportedly been strong at the Italian outfit. In particular, they seem to have a very reliable engine, having completed the most number of laps in pre-season testing. As a result, a lot of people expect Ferrari to be right at the front, competing for race wins and the World Title.

Team principal Mattia Binotto has repeatedly downplayed all talks of a Title challenge. The Ferrari boss is confident they can win races, but isn’t very sure of how they fare compared to Red Bull and Mercedes.

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Both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz are looking strong ahead of the 2022 season

The biggest question coming into pre-season was, how would drivers adapt to these new cars in such a short time. The regulation changes brought about make them radically different from it’s predecessors.

However, in terms of driving and controlling, they have some similarities to the F2 cars. Binotto feels this is something 2018 F2 Champion Leclerc can use to his advantage.

“The cars are very stiff and low,” Binotto said to Motorsport Italy. “A characteristic that we saw in F2 and that Charles drove. “So I think he had an easier adaptation because it resembled a product that he knew.”

In spite of highlighting Leclerc’s advantage, the 52-year old insists Sainz isn’t far behind. The Spaniard joined Ferrari last season and his quickness in adapting to the Maranello outfit has earned him a lot of plaudits.

“Having said that, I think that the drivers who are in F1, not only ours, are at a level that allows them to adapt very quickly. At the end of the test I didn’t see any difficulty in one or the other, they both adapted very quickly, but I think it’s also true for others”

“The level on the grid is very high, both among those who have already won and among the younger ones,” Binotto concluded.

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