"No silver bullet" to counter second-per-lap qualifying deficit - Ferrari

Ferrari

"No silver bullet" to counter second-per-lap qualifying deficit - Ferrari

Much of the Scuderia's losses are in the power unit on the straights

Ian Parkes

Monday 6 July 2020 11:27 Updated: 11:40

Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto has warned against lofty expectations of the Scuderia's upgrade package when it is introduced in Hungary.

With the exception of Charles Leclerc's unexpected second place in the season-opening Austrian Grand Prix, the weekend proved to be a chastening experience for the team.

Following a poor pre-season, Ferrari has opted to take a different direction with its development, but the fruits of that labour will not be seen until the third race at the Hungaroring.

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Binotto has revealed, though, much of the gap to leaders Mercedes is on the engine side which cannot be compensated for.

“I think what we have seen in Austria is very similar to Barcelona,” said Binotto.

“We need to improve our car. There are some mis-correlations, as you have seen, with the design, the car behaviour, especially on the aero.

"That is the development we started [after returning] back from the lockdown, and that, hopefully, we will have very soon at the race track.

“It will not be the final solution, there is no silver bullet. What’s important for us is to improve the type of behaviours [of the car]."

Assessing the deficit to Mercedes, Binotto added: “If I look at the qualifying, compared to the pole, we are missing a second.

"Of the second, three-tenths is cornering, but then there is still seven-tenths on the power unit, the straights. I think that one will be very difficult [to improve] because engine [development] is frozen for the season.

"On the straights, it [is also] about the drag, and the drag is not something we are addressing very soon. So a bit of disappointment to see our speed on the straight, so let’s analyse our data and see what we can do in the future.”

As to whether Ferrari can ramp up its updates and potentially have some on the SF1000 for this weekend's second race in Austria, Binotto said: "From now to next week there are very few days.

"The people back at Maranello are trying to push very hard, working day and night, so we will do whatever we can, but it's too early to know right now to anticipate any parts of the development for next week in Austria. We are hopeful, so let's wait and see."

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