Is Mattia Binotto's lack of ruthlessness ruining Ferrari's title chase?

Is Mattia Binotto's lack of ruthlessness going to cost Ferrari in the championship? The Italian feels the team does not need to make any changes going into the second half of the 2022 Formula 1 season despite losing ground to Red Bull Racing.

The Charles Leclerc's two wins and a second place in the opening three races saw him move 46 points clear of Max Verstappen in the Drivers' Championship. Ferrari, meanwhile, were well ahead of Red Bull in the Constructors' race making them the early season favourites.

However, 13 races into the 2022 campaign, and the picture has changed drastically. A combination of reliability issues, strategy mishaps and driver error has seen Ferrari manage just four wins to Red Bull's nine, leaving them trailing by a huge margin in both championships.

The strategy errors have especially been hard to watch with the most glaring one coming at the recently concluded Hungarian Grand Prix. Leclerc was again robbed of a potential win after the team's bizarre call to put him on the hard compound tyres saw him drop from the lead to finish sixth.

Binotto was asked what needs to be changed for Ferrari to genuinely take advantage of their superior pace. The Italian refused to lay the blame on his strategy team, and feels there is "nothing to change" going into the final nine races of the season.

"There's nothing to change, I think it's always a matter of confidence, learning, building, building experience, building skills," Binotto said after the Hungarian Grand Prix, as quoted on F1.com.

"But if I look again at the balance of the first half of the season there is no reason why we should change. I think we simply need to understand [Hungary] and address that and try to be competitive, as we have been in 12 races so far. There is no reason why we will not be [competitive] at the next."

Ferrari's errors have even seen Mercedes, who are yet to win a race this season, close the gap in the Constructors' Championship. If the Italian team continue to stumble over themselves, they can wave goodbye to even second place in the championship, which could see Binotto's future called into question.