Ferrari not expecting Silverstone to suit 2019 F1 car
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Ferrari does not expect Silverstone to suit its 2019 Formula 1 car “particularly well”, according to team principal Mattia Binotto.The Scuderia is without a win so far in 2019 and heads into this weekend’s British Grand Prix hopeful of repeating its victory from last year’s event, when Sebastian Vettel beat a recovering Lewis Hamilton to end the Briton’s run of successive victories on home soil.Ferrari has struggled to match the level of Mercedes’ competitiveness across the opening nine rounds of the campaign so far – though Charles Leclerc was on course to end its barren streak in Austria until a late charge from Max Verstappen – and Binotto is anticipating another tough weekend for the Italian squad.“Silverstone is one of the toughest tracks of the season, providing a real test of a car’s set-up and balance,” Binotto said.“Tyres also come under a lot of strain here and the amount they wear plays a key role in how your race pans out.“We do not expect Silverstone to suit our car particularly well, but at every race, we have seen that the balance of power can change, often unexpectedly.”Ferrari is still seeking answers to its performance-related issues with its 2019 challenger, and for the third race in a row, the team will bring further aerodynamic updates in a bid to better understand its SF90.“For the British Grand Prix we are bringing a further small aerodynamic modification as we continue to push hard on the development of our car,” Binotto explained.“The weekend will also be an opportunity to increase our understanding of the recent work we did, which has seen us close the gap to our competitors on specific types of track.”Last year’s race winner, Vettel, added: “Racing at Silverstone is something special for all the drivers because it’s such a cool track.“There are a lot of fast corners. It is also very technical, especially in the first part of the track with the new corners. To be honest, I still prefer the old parts with the fast flowing corners.“There is one of the most epic corner sequences in Formula 1 on this circuit, with Maggotts, Becketts and Chapel leading onto the Hangar Straight. I think every driver enjoys that part and I certainly do.“We won there last year and it is also the place where Ferrari took its first race win in Formula 1 a long way back, so there is plenty of history there for all of us at Ferrari.”
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