Ferrari head to Australia to “try and put a smile” on Italian faces even if victory is still being ruled out.
For the Scuderia, simply making it to Melbourne was a story amid tightening restrictions back home that has now seen the entire country put on lockdown due to the Coronavirus until April 3.
Amidst all the bad news then, team boss Mattia Binotto hopes Ferrari and F1 can offer some welcome relief.
“At what is a difficult time for Italy and the world as a whole, as part of a global sport, it is our obligation to try and put a smile on people’s faces as they prepare to watch the first race of the season with the same sense of anticipation as ourselves,” he said in the team’s Australian GP preview.
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“After a long winter working on building and developing our car, the time has come to get a first indication of our performance level and how effective are the improvements we have introduced over the past few months.
“We know that the opposition is strong, but we also know that it is the start of a long season where development rate, reliability, and our operational effectiveness will be key.”
Competitively, no-one is really sure how Ferrari will stack up after a subdued pre-season compared to their rivals, but Binotto does insist there won’t be the sudden burst of performance that some are expecting.
“I don’t think we’ll be in a position to win in Australia,” he stated via Crash.net.
“Obviously, every team has its own issues, some with reliability, others with lack of performance and in a race weekend, anything can happen. But as of today, we’re not quick enough to be up there.
“We’re not playing games, this is our true performance at the moment, how good or bad it is, it’s only after the first three races we will have a clearer picture.
“The pressure is there. The pressure should be seen as a motivation, not a drama.
“The overall performance needs to be improved, power unit, even set-up, so I don’t think there is a single area where we need to focus but all the areas.”