Sebastian Vettel has warned not to expect “miracles” from Ferrari at Monza and Mugello after a torrid Belgian Grand Prix.
Starting 13th and 14th, only a rapid start for Charles Leclerc upto P8 at one stage gave the Italian team a sniff of points at Spa-Francorchamps.
That hope though was quickly snuffed out when the DRS was activated and the Monegasque dropped back to P12 as cars cruised past him.
“It was extremely frustrating, as it has been a very difficult weekend for us,” Charles said.
“The race was not any easier as we’ve had issues on the two pit stops that we made, which made me lose quite a lot of lap time and positions.
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“I tried to catch back up, but it is very difficult for us to overtake, even with the DRS.
“We need to work and find something because like this it is very difficult.”
So bad was Leclerc’s first stop he ended up behind Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen, who would be the best Ferrari-powered car in P12 for Alfa Romeo.
But reflecting on the Maranello outfits’ situation, the four-time world champion was refusing to get frustrated.
“The underlying factor is that we were just not quick enough and at that stage, it’s a bit difficult, you cannot pull out miracles,” Vettel said.
“You can work on a couple of tenths. I think it was difficult to have a decent pace this race and this weekend, and as I said there’s lots of things we learned.
“We need to make sure we stay calm and we don’t get frustrated because frustration usually doesn’t lead you anywhere.
“We have two important races coming for the team in the next two weeks and that’s where we focus on. You also have to be realistic, you cannot expect miracles.
“The package is what it is – we are not as strong as we would like to be. We need to stay optimistic and see the good things, even if there’s not many.”
Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto said post-race the team was “disappointed and angry” after being left “severely lacking” at Spa, but he also hoped it was just specific to Belgium.
“The problem is related to this weekend,” he told Sky Italia. “We have not been able to understand how to make the tyres work.
“After all, this is the same car we had in the past races, as have our rivals. So there is something that didn’t work for us because we are further behind than we should be.”