Ferrari is looking to address their weaknesses on high-speed circuits that have emerged in recent races ahead of a critical stretch of Grands Prix after the summer break in their bid for a first championship since 2008.
Though the Scuderia took a strong 1-2 finish in Hungary at the end of last month, it was a stopping of the rot having not won a race since Monaco in May and watched their main rivals Mercedes gradually pull out a pace advantage on four power-dependent layouts.
The tight and twisty characteristics of the Hungaroring allowed the Italian team to bounce back but with Spa and their home track at Monza to come next, many believe the Silver Arrows will show the kind of form they had at Silverstone, where Ferrari had little response.
“We’ve been competitive every track where we’ve gone,” Sebastian Vettel claimed, defending his team’s performance. “It’s true that Mercedes has here and there been more competitive and we were a little bit behind.
“It’s normal from track to track there’s a bit of a difference. For drivers, some tracks we like more than others so it’s the same for the car.”
The 30-year-old, currently leading the Drivers’ Championship by 14 points over Lewis Hamilton, also insists Ferrari knows where the focus of their development needs to be.
“We want to be the best on every track we go,” he stated. “That’s not the case yet but we’re working on it.
“We have quite a good understanding of what the car needs. Now we have the time to look into a couple of things with a bit more peace and calm and try to improve.”
Teammate Kimi Raikkonen largely echoed Vettel’s comments before suggesting although the power demand at Spa should suit Mercedes better, that doesn’t mean Ferrari can’t be competitive in other areas.
”It depends on which tyres we have, what weather conditions we’re going to face, lots of things, small things that make a difference,” the four-time winner at the Belgian circuit explained.
“Now we take the holiday and see what happens in Spa, but if you look at it now, it’s not going to be as easy for us there as it was in Hungary.”
Commenting on where Ferrari can be better he added: “There are areas where we have to improve, especially in qualifying, where Mercedes has better horsepower, but it depends on many things.”
