Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto doubts the team will have a significant performance advantage over Mercedes at next week’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Mercedes has claimed Ferrari enjoy a significant straight-line speed advantage, which would help the team on the long straights of Baku. However Binotto played down the team’s top speed and said it would not necessarily be the deciding factor in next week’s race.

“If you look at the speed of Mercedes [in China] I think they were very strong as well,” he said, “so maybe you should ask them how they are so good. I don’t think there is much on the straights in [between] us and the others.

“Baku is a circuit where you’ve got a different aero configuration certainly so I think it’s not only power units it could be aero configuration. It’s not only the straights in Baku, it’s a lot of corners. It’s a circuit that’s very difficult in that respect so let’s see.”

Although Mercedes have scored one-two finishes in all the races so far this year, Ferrari showed their potential by sweeping the front row of the grid in Bahrain.

“I think the competition is very tough,” he said. “There are races where you may be in front by a few hundredths.”

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2019 F1 season