Ferrari’s SF1000 is lacking in all areas at Formula 1’s Austrian Grand Prix, according to Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc, after a subdued display during Friday practice.
Ferrari played down its prospects in the build-up after a lacklustre pre-season period prompted an acceptance that its SF1000 required a substantial overhaul.
The marque has altered its developmental direction but a raft of revised components will not be ready until round three in Hungary at the earliest.
It means the SF1000 is still in the same specification as during pre-season testing in February, with no updates, while the engine performance also remains unchanged.
At a venue where Ferrari claimed pole position 12 months ago Vettel was fourth, six-tenths down on pacesetter Lewis Hamilton, with Leclerc ninth.
“In terms of speed and competitiveness I think it was an interesting day, we’ve seen we’re not at the top and we’ve seen that Mercedes is very strong, as expected,” said Vettel.
“And then there’s a lot of stuff going on behind that, it’s very tight. Let’s see, tomorrow will be a big day, we’ll try to be the leaders of whatever group there is behind.
“It’s up to us to work and develop so that the car gets faster.
“That’s what we have to do, we’re lacking grip, we’re lacking downforce, compared to others, also a little bit down the straights, as our car is draggier than the others, so it’s a mix of all these things.”
Leclerc added that “the balance is not that bad, it’s not completely out of place for now, so we need to work quite hard to catch up as an overall performance.
“The speed in the corner, we seem to lose compared to the others, then the balance feels quite good but the overall grip of the car, I guess it is not only one thing it is also the full package we need to upgrade.
“We will try different ways for tomorrow to try to make the car work in a different way and see if we can gain performance.”
