Ferrari is likely to alter their setup approach in an effort to address ongoing problems optimising the tyres.
The Italian team has been one of many teams to blame the Pirelli rubber for impacting performance this season, as thinner treads have made it very difficult to find the correct operating temperature window.
Mainly responsible for this is Ferrari’s focus on top speed with a low-drag design which doesn’t put as much load through the tyres as Mercedes’ higher downforce approach.
However, now: “I think we are looking for, eventually, more downforce to the detriment of the speed,” team boss Mattia Binotto said ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix.
“Even if the car will not be too efficient, [it will] give more downforce to get the tyres working, that will be the direction to go.
“We’ve seen how difficult to get the tyres working and that is something we are focused on.”
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Initial efforts to address a lack of front downforce were largely unsuccessful in France as several upgrades were taken off between practice and qualifying.
The Scuderia will try again though with further updates expected this weekend in Spielberg.
“We are happy to be getting back on track so quickly because it’s the best way to put ourselves to the test again to try and understand the elements that did not go according to plan in France,” Binotto explained.
“We have various test items to evaluate, mainly in order to give us a clearer picture as to why some of the updates we brought to Le Castellet did not work as expected.
“The Austrian track is very different from Paul Ricard. The first sector has long straights and braking in a straight line, while the second part is tighter, with a mix of low and medium-high speed corners.
“The forecast is for very hot conditions, so it will be a demanding weekend on the cooling front, both for the engine and the brakes, which means tyre management will also be very difficult.”