Maranello (Italy) (AFP)

Ferrari must "progress 360 degrees" in 2020 because, to win in Formula 1 currently, "you have to be perfect," said Wednesday the "main team" of the Scuderia Mattia Binotto in its assessment of the 2019 season.

"We are not facing a single challenge but several, such as the performance of our car, its reliability, the strategy, the drivers," detailed the Italian in front of the press at HQ Maranello (Italy).

2019 "was a mixed season and we did not live up to our ambitions" (2nd in the constructors standings at 235 Mercedes points, 4th and 5th among the drivers), notes for its part the CEO of Ferrari, Louis Camilleri.

The latter, however, continues to support the team in place, ensuring that "we have the talent and leadership we need".

The leaders recognize "errors" in multiple areas: reliability, strategy, management of pilots, errors of the drivers themselves or during pit stops.

Binotto recalls that Ferrari started the season convinced to have "a clear performance advantage over the competition" given its dominance in winter testing.

"It took us maybe four or five races to understand that our car was not the fastest, it took too much time to be our first weakness," says the engineer, before emphasizing a "positive response." in the second half of the season ".

"We have substantially reduced the gap but it still exists and it is a point on which to work for next year," Camilleri urges.

For 2020, "the concept (of the future Ferrari) has been defined," says Binotto. "We are aiming for more aerodynamic support" and "we have changed a lot of things in the engine".

- Management of the rivalry -

The car will be presented on February 11, for winter testing in Barcelona (Spain) starting on the 19th.

"We did not have the best car in 2019, so we are not favorites, we are positioning ourselves as challengers," said the Italian.

Another challenge: managing the rivalry between German Sebastian Vettel and Monaco's Charles Leclerc, who says the Ferrari CEO, "get along very well behind closed doors".

"It's certainly not an easy exercise and everyone can do better," says Binotto.

"But I think we can be stronger next year," he says, "before the races we meet with the pilots to discuss scenarios and strategies." At the very beginning, these meetings were full of embarrassment and hardship. to manage, but we get used to it. "

While the experienced Vettel was N.1 early 2019, at the first Grand Prix of 2020 in Australia on March 15, "they will be free to fight", announces the "main team".

He also answered the doubts about the legality of his engine at the return of the summer break, when the Scuderia began to win.

"We are among the most controlled teams," Binotto insists "We have never changed the way we use our engine (...) so if it was not legal, it would have come out of the first control."

"Integrity is key to us," says Camilleri.

© 2019 AFP