Ferrari President Sergio Marchionne has claimed the Italian team “cannot mourn” their worst result of the season at the British Grand Prix, urging a renewed push in their battle with Mercedes.
The momentum has swung firmly in favour of the defending world champions in recent races with four wins in the last six races compared to the Scuderia’s one. Lewis Hamilton has also closed what was once a 25-point gap to Sebastian Vettel at the top of the Drivers’ Championship to just a single point as the German only finished seventh at Silverstone following a late puncture.
In what equated to a rallying cry from Marchionne to his team, he reminded them: “I know you are the same team from Monte Carlo and the start of the season,” said Marchionne, referring to the 1-2 Ferrari scored in Monaco which remains their last win.
“We cannot mourn this negative result but instead I expect an immediate reaction,” he added. “We have always known our opponent was very strong and dominant for years but I am convinced we will get back where we were.”
What will be concerning the Maranello hierarchy is how Ferrari does appear to have dropped back from Mercedes slightly in recent races, something Kimi Raikkonen acknowledged after Sunday’s race.
“We had a decent start but once we fell behind, we had no real chance to beat them,” the Finn said. “We could have been second today but we didn’t really have the speed against Lewis. Obviously, we have some work to be done.”
With power sensitivity high at recent circuits, however, Raikkonen hopes the twisty Hungaroring that will host the final race before the summer break can help Ferrari negate Mercedes’ engine advantage.
“For sure the last few circuits haven’t been ideal for us,” claimed the 2007 world champion.
“I’m sure Hungary should be a better circuit for us, and our strengths — but we wait and see. Need to keep working hard and try to improve. Try to keep fighting as much as we can.”