Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto says Sebastian Vettel’s ultimate ambition of winning the world title with the Scuderia remains intact despite the German driver’s struggles this season.
After a productive preparation period last winter, Vettel and Ferrari expected to give Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton a run for their money this year and challenge for the world title.
Instead, the Scuderia’s SF90 has been no match for the Silver Arrows’ dominant contender, while Vettel has also been forced to compose with the burgeoning talent of teammate Charles Leclerc.
Even Red Bull’s Max Verstappen entered the summer break with an upper hand over the four-time world champion in the drivers’ standings.
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Yet Binotto is adamant that Vettel’s motivation to deliver to Maranello its first driver’s title since Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 is as strong as ever.
“I think that his objective hasn’t changed – to become world champion with Ferrari,” Binotto told Motorsport.com.
“And he’s got that objective very clear. Obviously, the start of the season in that respect was frustrating, because it means for his final goal he’s not in the best position to achieve it in 2019.
“But because he’s got such a strong objective, he knows exactly what he’s looking for. I
“I think that is where he’s finding his own boost, and that is not compromising anything, so he’s clearly still pushing [very] much, because he knows where we need to go and he knows exactly what he’s looking for.”
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