Jul.12 (GMM) Pressure is building on Ferrari to make Charles Leclerc the clear number 1 driver to challenge Max Verstappen for the 2022 world championship.
Team boss Mattia Binotto insisted in Austria that because Leclerc and Silverstone winner are so close on points, there will be no standing team orders for now.
The Italian media, however, does not agree.
“Ferrari, don’t mess up this world title,” an editorial at La Gazzetta dello Sport insists.
“Now the hierarchies will be clearer,” it added, referring to Sainz’s engine failure in Austria and Leclerc’s win over Verstappen.
Corriere della Sera, another Italian newspaper, added: “If there was ever any doubt, the numbers now show that Leclerc is the man to bet on for the world championship.
“The comeback remains difficult, but with the performances seen at the Red Bull Ring we must believe in it even if the danger of reliability is omnipresent,” correspondent Daniele Sparisci added.
On the latter point, Binotto admits he is worried – and that there will be no quick fix.
“These are issues that are worrying for the next races, but not in the long term,” he told Corriere dello Sport. “I am convinced that we can solve them as a team.
“We have a very good performing engine, and that offers hope for the future when we get the reliability under control. But it takes time to intervene – new components have to be designed and produced,” Binotto added.
“We can’t do that in a few weeks, so in the short term we have to limit the kilometres.”
As for the Red Bull camp, reigning world champion and championship leader Verstappen’s father Jos insists he is not overly worried.
“Second place isn’t so bad at all,” the former F1 driver told Servus TV after his son’s defeat to Leclerc in Austria.
“Of course you always want to win, but sometimes you can and sometimes you don’t. We can be satisfied with a race like today,” Verstappen snr added.
“Ferrari were just faster this time, but we can’t complain.”