Sebastian Vettel says the steps taken by Ferrari so far in F1 2019 is certainly not enough but insists that the team is positive still.
It clearly hasn’t been the season which Ferrari would have hoped for after the F1 2019 pre-season test they had in Barcelona. Toto Wolff again stressed the work done by Mercedes on the last two days to catch up Ferrari.
The German manufacturer remains adamant that the team had issues during the two tests but overcame it as days went by. At the same time, Ferrari remained cautiously optimistic but it turned out to be worst.
It isn’t that the Italian manufacturer have had a poor pace as in certain races they had the pace but couldn’t perform to their best, which hurt their morale even more, which is why they are 150 points behind.
Even though Ferrari showed pace in selected race, they have been out-paced by Mercedes in majority, with even Red Bull Racing getting two F1 race wins. The work is on but Vettel feels it is still not enough.
Ever since they deployed their second power unit before the scheduled grand prix, Ferrari has concentrated on fine tuning things rather than bring any big changes. A third unit is said to be used after the summer break.
“I think the temperatures were fine [in Hungary],” said Vettel. “It was quite warm with the track was near 50 degrees as well. We saw our limits in qualifying. We then got a confirmation in the race..
“So, I don’t think it’s a step back, we had some bits, it was a small step forward but what it shows is that it’s not enough. It’s important that the mood inside the team remains positive, which is the case.
“I think everybody knows what we are lacking. Obviously we are very competitive on the straights like at Hungaroring, we were 6 or 7kph faster at the end of the straight compared to Red Bull and also Mercedes.
“But obviously we are losing quite a lot in the corners. There were some tracks where efficiency is more important, Hungaroring is a track where inefficiency pays off, so whatever you have in terms of downforce is positive.
“That’s where we are lacking performance and in the race I think it shows even more because you are sliding and then I think we are going through the tyres faster. So not to our advantage.
“We have seen that as well in recent weeks, so in a way not a surprise but as I said we need to keep our head down and do the work. There might be tracks coming up next, especially with Spa and Monza that might be better for us.
“But in the end our ambition is to really force things to happen, be in control of the race. Where we are now, we’re quite far away from that. So, yeah, I think the spirit is good though.
“The team is willing to give everything they have, continue to give everything they have. And that’s all we can do right now.” Even in the drivers’ standings, Vettel is behind Max Verstappen.