F1: Ferrari boss wants response after Red Bull surge ahead in development race

Ferrari may have recorded a double podium finish at the recently concluded Miami Grand Prix, but team principal Mattia Binotto wants his team to claw back the advantage from Red Bull Racing. Max Verstappen claimed his third win of the season after overtaking pole sitter Charles Leclerc in the early stages of the race.

The Italian team seems to have the advantage over a single lap, but their cars struggle to maintain pace with the Red Bulls during the race. Verstappen was able to easily close in on Leclerc and overtake him in Miami as the Ferrari struggled for grip after the opening 15 laps.

Ferrari continues to lead both the Drivers' and Constructors' championships, but the Austrian team is slowly but surely reducing the deficit. Verstappen is now just 19 points behind Leclerc, while Red Bull is a meagre six points behind the Maranello-based team.

Binotto was not disappointed with Ferrari's performance in Miami, but admitted that Red Bull bringing upgrades to almost every race this season has seen them gain a speed advantage. The Italian wants his team to respond at the next race in Spain, and ensure they claw back at the advantage gained by Red Bull.

"If you consider how many points we are taking home from here, we can't be too disappointed, given that we are leading both championships, but it's clear we now need to respond. We are keen to get the job done and there are still a lot of races to go," Binotto said, as quoted on F1.com.

"It's true that Red Bull improved their car, improved it since the very start of the season. If I looked at the last two races, maybe they got a couple of tenths per lap faster to us. It's no doubt that in order to keep the pace we will need to develop ourselves with new upgrades."

Binotto hinted that Ferrari will bring their first major upgrade package at the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona, and is hoping it can help them bridge the gap to Red Bull. As is tradition, most teams are expected to bring upgrades at the Circuit de Catalunya.

"I hope because there is a budget cap that at some stage Red Bull will stop developing, otherwise I would not understand how they can do that. It could be at least our turn to try to develop as much as we can the car by introducing upgrades, and I think it's not a surprise that we may have a package in Barcelona, which will be important for us."

"As usual, I hope the package we are introducing is working as expected and in that case, it can be a good boost in order to try and catch up the current gap we've got to the Red Bull."