Mattia Binotto 'encouraged' by Ferrari 3rd-place finish in F1 2021 season

Ferrari F1 team principal Mattia Binotto believes his team feels encouraged by the third-place finish. He said it wasn’t, however, the target they intended to achieve at the start of 2021. The Italian exec felt that the result was a confidence boost and a good indicator of the progress they made overall.

Speaking to Formula 1’s official site, Binotto said:

“We didn’t set the third position as the final objective for ourselves. Finishing third is encouraging because it’s a declaration that the team somehow has made progress and is going in the right direction.”

According to the 52-year-old, they can’t be over encouraged by the third-place result, as the 2022 season is a regulatory overhaul with challenges of its own. The Maranello-based team's chief felt third place complimented the efforts they made to steer the team in a positive direction. After the outfit's downslide in performance since mid-2019, the 2021 result is a positive morale boost.

Looking ahead to the upcoming 2022 F1 season, Binotto said:

“I think [the result] is giving us some serenity as well through the wintertime, which is important, because of what we are facing for 2022, which is a completely new challenge, a very difficult one.”

The reason for the team's late performance surge in the final races of the season was largely contributed by the new hybrid system on their power unit. While the Italian constructor's engine still lacks power, their well-balanced versatile chassis helped sustain consistency in performances at certain circuits.

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Could Ferrari be underdogs of 2022 F1 season?

Chassis design has always been one of the key strongholds of the Maranello-based team. Their 2021 chassis was one of the most well-balanced car designs on the grid. An underpowered engine, however, couldn’t propel them further than third place. A new regulatory overhaul on the chassis side due for 2022 could allow them to emerge stronger than their current competitors.

The Prancing Horse's last win was with Sebastian Vettel in the 2019 Singapore GP, and their last champion was Kimi Raikkonen in 2007. Their current driver line-up and developmental progress might just aid them in a fight at the front if their engine and chassis have made the optimal gains performance-wise. Their 2022 performance might aid the formerly dominant force in the sport in regaining its iconic prowess.