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Scoring points on his Ferrari debut when the only points scored by the driver he replaced were penalty points, Mattia Binotto says it’s nice to “finally” be able to “count on both” drivers.
Last season, in Sebastian Vettel’s last year with Ferrari, Scuderia had just five double points in the 17-race season.
While Charles Leclerc put in 98 in total, Vettel only managed 33, with Ferrari falling to sixth in the constructors’ championship. If Vettel had equaled his teammate, Ferrari could have fought for fourth place.
Vettel left the team at the end of a tense 2020 season, replaced by Carlos Sainz, and headed to Aston Martin.
The two have contrasted beginnings with their new teams.
While Sainz had a solid first outing, bringing his home SF21 down to eighth place with Leclerc P6, Vettel qualified P18 only to be hit with a gate penalty for ignoring the wavy double yellows in Q1.
Off the points, his weekend went from bad to worse when he finished back Esteban Ocon and was hit with a 10 second penalty. He scored points, five, but they were all penalty points.
Binotto seems relieved that he doesn’t have to deal with Vettel’s problem, but instead takes advantage of his new formation, which he says he can ‘finally’ count on to deliver.
#Fans, @ CarlosSainz55 and @Charles_Leclerc have a message for you after the #BahrainGP 🇧🇭 🤩#beFerrari 🔴 # SF21 pic.twitter.com/qFg1uar5z0
– Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) March 28, 2021
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The Ferrari team boss told Sky Italia: “I’m really happy with the drivers, I’m happy to finally be able to count on them both.
“Carlos had a very good race with the pace. And then motivation is important, the desire to grow as a team and not just with the drivers.
“Today was only the first race, they will understand where to improve.
“This season we will not be developing the car much, as we are already focused on 2022. We will be making improvements, but it is important that they work and that they lead the car in the right direction.
He added: “We chose Carlos because we knew he was strong during the race, he proved it today.
“He’s gaining confidence with the car, he’s settling in very well with the team, he’s working very well with Charles.
“Charles yesterday after qualifying thanked Carlos for pushing him to do the best possible lap. So I’m happy with both.
“Knowing that we can count on both is really important. The most important thing is to be motivated to continue to grow.
“Our opponents today are not Carlos for Charles and Charles for Carlos, but the cars in front of us. The day we are ahead of all the other teams, our drivers will also be able to fight against each other.
Ferrari left Bahrain fourth in the constructors’ championship, with Binotto saying it was a “good” start to the season for the team.
“Yes, we are happy, but if we look at the best cars ahead, we see that we have to keep improving. We will learn from today and analyze the data.
“We fought with McLaren, even though Charles lost the place, Carlos finished the race close to Ricciardo, although his race was affected by the starting position.
“But I think it was a good race overall, but there is a lot to do and to work on, so we are already focused on Imola.”
Additional reporting by Luca Brambilla
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