Nobody is questioning the legality of Mercedes” – Ferrari team Mattia Binotto also expects them to give strong competition to Mercedes and Red Bull.
Mercedes’ sidepods were a big issue during Bahrain testing, with Red raising questions over its slim design. But Ferrari doesn’t seem to be having too many issues with it.
Mattia Binotto supports innovation, as it facilitates competition between teams despite rigid, stringent rules. He gave the example of the mirrors used by Mercedes, which assist in aerodynamics. It has received the green light from FIA’s head of single-seater matters Nikolas Tombazis.
“Already in the past, we always argued the mirrors should not have any aero purpose. They should be there just to look behind.
“Nobody is questioning the legality of the Mercedes solutions, for example the mirror, but I give a simple example.
“In 2018 we had fitted mirrors linked to the Halo, a solution that as the regulations were written was legal, but two races later a new technical directive from the FIA forced us to remove them because they would have had a non-incidental aerodynamic influence.
“This is the principle I underline, the FIA has the authority to clarify and I am curious to see how the situation will evolve on this occasion. More than protests, I expect clarification.
“I was surprised to see so many differences between the cars in terms of geometry. We knew there was the flexibility to make different choices, we tried many ourselves, I expected more convergence and was surprised to see so many different solutions. I think that’s good, that’s the beauty of this sport.
