The SF90 did not only have one technical problem in the 2019 Formula 1 season, but several many – Team boss Mattia Binotto explains that it’s all about the “whole philosophy” at Ferrari, and how this will hinder changes, and the list of deficiencies is consequently long.

If a car doesn’t run reliably, it’s always a problem in Formula 1. However, the situation becomes even more difficult when the car is carrying several “deficiencies” with it.

According to team boss Mattia Binotto, this was the case with Ferrari 2019. The SF90 was stopped several times this year by the technology – and for different reasons.

“In Bahrain it hit Charles, in Austria Sebastian had a problem in qualifying, in Germany both cars in qualifying. Then we had the problem in Sochi,” Binotto recalls and explains:

“Every single [problem] was different. There is no single factor or common ground. That makes [us] even more worried.”

“If you only have one problem, you can take care of it,” Binotto explains, adding, “The fact that we have different problems shows that our entire process is not strong enough in reliability.”

Improving this is the “key” if you want to fight Mercedes for the World Championship title in 2020, Binotto says.

“With greater reliability, we [2019] would have won more victories,” 

Leclerc was leading in Bahrain when there was a problem with his engine. In Sochi they even missed the double finish when Vettel had to park his SF90. Further, due to the problems mentioned in qualifying, the team missed several better starting positions.

But Binotto also knows that the difficulties cannot be solved overnight. Because it’s about the “whole philosophy”, he explains. “It starts with the designers,”

At the same time, it is also generally about “risk assessment” with the new car. “That’s why it will take some time. But because we already had a problem in Bahrain, we tried to improve it,” Binotto says.

So really, Binotto and Ferrari are risk adverse when it comes to car design, and certainly, this might prove to be a problem fixing the reliability issues of 2019.