'F1 championship not our objective': Ferrari boss makes startling claim
Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen lead the Constructors' and Drivers' Championships respectively.
Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto has made a startling revelation ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix this weekend. The Italian team boss has confirmed Ferrari's objective for the 2022 season, and it is not to win the Drivers' and Constructors' championships.
The Maranello-based team have the best cars on the grid alongside title rivals Red Bull Racing. The two teams have started the new era of Formula 1 in fine fashion and left the rest of the grid well in their wake after the first seven races.
It is a welcome change for Ferrari after their recent problems, which saw them struggle to mount serious title challenges during the hybrid era. They were also left to battle in the midfield during their disastrous 2020 campaign. They are now the frontrunners, and are battling Red Bull for both titles after seven races.
Binotto, however, has looked to ease the pressure on the team after being asked if Ferrari can keep up the pace with Red Bull as the season progresses. Ferrari's Achilles heel in recent seasons has been their inability to develop the car during the course of the campaign and making rookie strategy errors.
"We set our objectives to be back competitive in 2022. So our objective is to be competitive, not to win the championship, and it would be completely wrong to turn that into: 'Let's try to win the championship because we are so competitive.'" Binotto said during a recent interview with BBC Sport's Andrew Benson.
"Being competitive is one fact; becoming world champion is another level of task. [Saying] that is maybe to take off some pressure from the team, but also I think it would be wrong as management to change objectives from the ones we gave them," he added.
"No doubt what we intend to do is to try to open a cycle - become world champion, and not only once; try to stay there. But I think it will take time.
It is clear that Red Bull have the edge going into the eighth race of the season in Baku. The Austrian team was trailing Ferrari after the first three races of the season, but have swung it around in the last four to take the lead in both championships.
Ferrari will hope that they can show their competitiveness by pushing Red Bull all the way to the final race of the campaign. Mercedes, the reigning Constructors' champions, have fallen behind at the start, but are hoping to enter the race midway through the campaign.
