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Ferrari to bring small evolutions in France as Mercedes expects tough fight

18/06/2019

Ferrari said it will only bring small evolutions on SF90 for F1 French GP as Mercedes insists of a tough fight in the grand prix.

While Ferrari looked to have an upperhand in F1 Canadian GP with their straightline advantage, Mercedes weren’t far off which eventually puts the German manufacturer in a better position with the Italian manufacturer still playing a catch-up.

So much so that they are using right to review for Sebastian Vettel’s F1 Canadian GP penalty as they have a strong case against the decision. In the meantime, work continues towards the next grand prix this weekend at Circuit Paul Ricard.

Ferrari’s Mattia Binotto says there will be small evolutions on SF90 but it won’t be the solution to the problem they are facing with the car. “Following Canada we definitely want to get back on track and go racing with our rivals once again,” he said.

“In France we will have a few small evolutions, elements that represent for us a useful step in defining the direction we will take in developing the car. What we will be bringing won’t be the solution to our problems.

“But the technical feedback we get from these evolutions will be important for the next steps we take. Paul Ricard has been a tricky circuit for us last year and we know that this kind of track isn’t particularly favourable for our package.

“But nothing is impossible so we will be ready to do our best.” Vettel, meanwhile, recalled his last year’s Lap 1 incident but hoped for a better run this time as he feels the grand prix will once again be a one-stop race, even with the harder compounds than Montreal.

While Ferrari continues to try and catch Mercedes, its rivals on the other hand are still playing the underdog card as Toto Wolff states that the competition will be tough in French GP, especially after a mixed Canada weekend, where they had multiple issues.

“Canada was something of a wake-up call for us,” he said. “After a run of very good reliability over the opening six races, we experienced a number of problems over the course of the weekend, almost all of which were of our own making.

“From the problem with the fuel system on Valtteri’s car in FP1 to the hydraulic leak on Lewis’ car which we had to fix on the morning before the race. We were fortunate that those reliability issues were exposed when we still had the chance to solve them.

“But we know that they could have easily ruined our weekend and it is down to the great skill of our mechanics that they didn’t. We expect another tough fight in France. The circuit features some similarities to Montreal and the long straights will present a challenge for us.

“However, unlike Canada, the corner characteristics are spread across a range of speeds, which should play to our advantage. We’re looking forward to the chance to put a few things right again.”