Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto is promising a thorough analysis of the 2019 car and the cornering issues which are plaguing it.
This after another weekend to forget at the Spanish Grand Prix, with Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc finishing fourth and fifth respectively behind Max Verstappen.
“This was yet another race that ended well below our expectations,” Binotto conceded post-race. “It was a shame about the start because Sebastian got off the line really well but then he locked up the wheels and lost some places.
“The updates we brought here, both on the aero front and on the engine, worked well and we are more than pleased with them, but they proved to be insufficient.
“Now we have to analyse and think about what did not work, and when it comes to that. As of today, I don’t think we have a precise answer.”
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The dominant factor throughout the weekend, however, was a struggle in the second and third sectors with a combination of medium and low-speed corners.
“Right now we are losing a lot in each corner, not only in the last sector,” Binotto noted. “In every single corner, we are slow with quite a lot of understeer.
“It’s not only downforce it’s more than that, it’s something which we need really to analyses and understand.
“Any early conclusion today will be a wrong conclusion. It will take some days to really have proper analysis,” he continued.
“It’s a matter of balance, a matter of downforce, it’s a matter of maybe even car concept. I think [while] we do not have the answer, I would like not to go through it.”
With Mercedes scoring a fifth straight 1-2, talk is increasing of this season becoming a two-horse race between Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.
But Binotto insists Ferrari are not ready to throw in the towel.
“We know we have a lot to do and that we must improve. That was made clear this weekend, but we are not losing heart,” he declared.
“The mood in the team is still good and there’s a strong desire to do better, so now we have to respond with our actions. The season is still long and we will never give up. That is our approach.”
