Mattia Binotto: “We are not giving up”

Is the situation after four Grands Prix worrying?

Four races contested, four victories for Mercedes and zero for Ferrari, it’s an understatement to say that they are very strong. However, the gap is not as significant as these results might suggest, which do not reflect the true level of performance of our car.

Saturday (in Baku), we had the potential to get pole with Charles. When you have a car efficient enough to achieve that, you have an overall good car.

In the race we weren't as fast as Mercedes but we didn't finish 30th either. Our pace was close. We have things to work on but we are not giving up.

How do you explain the erosion of your potential between Friday and Sunday?

You just shouldn't rely on Friday practice because we are all on different programs. What is certain is that we had a good car for qualifying and that, potentially, we could have been on pole.

The race is another thing depending on whether you start from the front row or behind. You have to manage your pace, your tires differently. Our pace was affected by our position on the grid.

Is the Barcelona Grand Prix going to be the ultimate test of your true form?

Mercedes is very strong and will continue to be strong in Spain. The most important thing is to focus on ourselves. We need to be interested in our weaknesses in order to resolve them without looking at what is happening elsewhere. We faced different situations this weekend and we leave Baku with a lot of data. We will come back stronger.