LONDON, United Kingdom, July 7 – Ferrari intend to bring forward planned upgrades to their car following a disappointing performance at the season-opening Austrian Grand Prix.
Charles Leclerc finished Sunday’s race in second place but team chief executive Louis Camilleri admitted the SF1000 car “didn’t measure up” and has called for improvements “on all fronts”.
Ahead of this weekend’s Styrian Grand Prix, Ferrari hope to introduce additional parts which were originally scheduled to be used at the subsequent race in Hungary.
Camilleri said in a statement on the Ferrari website: “It’s clear that we have to improve on all fronts. The only solution is to react.
“The SF1000 didn’t measure up, even compared to expectations ahead of the event.
“Because of this, development has already been going on at full pace for some time.
“This is in the hope of bringing forward to next weekend the introduction of the aerodynamic package scheduled for the Hungarian Grand Prix – or, at least, some of its components.
“This is the response of a united team which is rolling up its sleeves and facing the problems head on, without crying about it.
“We are at the start of a new cycle with a long-term plan. Any setbacks will certainly not change our chosen course and I have every confidence in Mattia (Binotto, team principal) and the team in addressing our shortcomings.”
Leclerc’s team-mate, four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, finished the Spielberg race down in 10th position.
Ferrari’s major issue was a lack of speed on the straights, with the car losing 0.7 seconds a lap to rivals Mercedes.
“It was a pity for Sebastian, who couldn’t show his best performance because he was uncomfortable with the balance of the car,” continued Camilleri.
“Now we are analysing the data to understand the reasons why. We know there’s lots of work to do. This is certainly not the grid position that a team like Ferrari should have and we have to respond immediately.
“It’s not that these new parts are expected to completely bridge the gap compared to the front of the grid.
“But the progress in terms of lap time could allow the team to move up the order and put the drivers in a better condition to be able to display their talent.
