Ferrari: Engine weakness in Mexico only 'part of the equation'

Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto says there was more to the Scuderia's low-key performance in Mexico City than the relative weakness of its engine.

The Italian outfit found itself unable to run its power unit at full capacity at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, due to the track's high-altitude environment and thin air conditions.

However, Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc had led the field in opening practice on Friday, which initially augured well for the rest of the weekend.

But as performance dwindled, neither driver was in the mix in qualifying and on race day which they concluded fifth and sixth and well adrift from the top three front-runners.

"It was incredibly difficult, we were just so slow, so yeah, we need to look into it," said Leclerc after last Sunday's event.

"We were in the middle of nowhere. With Carlos, we were way slower compared to the Mercedes and Red Bull, [but] much quicker than the midfield. So we were on our own, just a very lonely race.

"There wasn't much we could have done more to be honest today."

Relative to Red Bull, tyre degradation has been at the forefront of Ferrari's issues in the second half of the season. But in Mexico, the team's inability to dial in the power at 2,240 m above sea level was an unsolvable deficit.

Furthermore, Binotto also noted that the setup of Ferrari's F1-75 was far from optimal last weekend.

• Read also: F1i's Driver Ratings for the 2022 Mexican GP

"In terms of power unit, we were not at our best performance for the weekend, but I don't think that that's explaining the most," said the Scuderia chief.

"That’s part of the equation, but there is more than that. There is certainly more than that, and it's something which we need to look at and there is not a clear answer right now.

"The ride was not great. The balance was not great. I'm pretty sure if I'm listening at the drivers later on in the debriefing, they will tell me that the car was not turning and the reason why I think it has to be looked at and we have not a clear explanation right now."

Leclerc also hoped that the team's post-race analysis would help clear up the haze surrounding its Mexican Grand Prix weekend.

Regardless of the findings, the Monegasque is confident that Ferrari will be back in business next week in Brazil.

"I hope we won't be worse than this, because I don't expect any race worse than this," said Leclerc.

"It's probably one of the worst races, together with Spa, this one. I honestly believe that it is a one off.

"But for the future, we need to understand what we can do better in those conditions for us to be better."

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