“The presence of client teams seriously helps us out” – Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto has spoken out on the importance of teams like Alfa Romeo and Haas, with the latter set to hand Mick Schumacher his F1 debut next season.
Ferrari team principal seems very excited for the debut of F2 champion Mick Schumacher in Formula 1. The son of Michael Schumacher will race for the American squad Haas, which has an alliance with Ferrari. Binotto believes the alliance is crucial as it would be too big a responsibility to directly drive a Ferrari. The Italian was talking to Motorsport.com’s Russian language site.
“I think we cannot afford to take a Formula 2 driver and put him directly in the cockpit of one of the red cars.”
“The responsibility would be too great and in the absence of the necessary experience, it is difficult to expect strong results from a young driver. In this case, the presence of client teams seriously helps us out. With their help, we can provide our drivers with the opportunity to master F1 and gain experience.”
Alfa Romeo and Haas important to us: Mattia Binotto
Binotto also spoke out on the importance of having customer teams like Alfa Romeo and Haas. Ferrari provides engine support to both the teams, and also see FDA (Ferrari Driver Academy) cadets racing for them. Before Mick, the most recent one for Alfa Romeo was Antonio Giovinazzi.
“Mick’s place at Haas next year is a great opportunity to showcase the full benefits of our partnership. It is important to understand that our junior program should educate Formula 1 drivers, and drivers who could one day compete for Ferrari. This means the guys must be 100% ready to perform at the highest level.”
