Ex-Formula 1 team boss, Flavio Briatore, is pretty indifferent to Ferrari’s sluggish start to 2019, saying they have been “slow for eight years”.

At this stage last season, Sebastian Vettel was top of the World Championship standings by nine points. This year, he is already 31 points behind current World Championship leader and five-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton.

Ferrari should have had at least one Grand Prix win on the board with Charles Leclerc in Bahrain, but find themselves with some big ground to make up just three rounds into the 2019 season.

Briatore, though, brushed off Ferrari’s latest gloomy period and said that nobody should really be surprised with what they are seeing unfold.

“What’s wrong with Ferrari? It’s nothing new,” Briatore told Italian broadcaster La 7.

“The car has been slow for eight years.”

Briatore also took issue with the current structure Ferrari have in place after Mattia Binotto replaced Maurizio Arrivabene as Scuderia team boss.

He added: “With Binotto, they run the risk of not having a fully dedicated boss and also becoming lost in the technical area.”

“Nothing has changed compared to last year,” Briatore then said when asked specifically about Ferrari’s poor start this season.

“They have not reduced the gap to Mercedes.

“The usual repertoire of excuses already started in the first race.

“Mercedes will continue to dominate.”

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