Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur has revealed it plans to “speed up” the rate it brings upgrades to its Formula 1 car as it strives to retain pace with Red Bull and McLaren.
The Maranello-based squad emerged as Red Bull’s nearest contender in the nascent stages of the term, but McLaren has taken over that mantle in the last two races.
McLaren introduced developments in Miami that helped Lando Norris to achieve his maiden F1 win, while the Briton also pushed Max Verstappen to the line at Imola.
But while Ferrari brought updates to the SF-24 last weekend and is adamant the package delivered the expected gains, Red Bull and McLaren had the edge at the top.
McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella believes the battle at the sharp end will boil down to executing weekends, but Vasseur contends that each area will be decisive.
“No, I think that the competition will be everywhere,” Vasseur claimed in response to his McLaren counterpart’s assessment.
“The set-up of the car will be crucial next week in Monaco. The performance of the driver will be crucial.
“And what is true is that we are at the point now where we will have to speed up the development, because imagine that someone could bring an upgrade one race before when you have three teams in one-tenth you can jump from P5 to P1. It means that we will have to speed up the time.
“We already had a discussion after the race for this, and it will be crucial.
“But we also have to pay attention that we are now chasing the last androids. It’s not anymore, an upgrade at five-tenths.
“It means that you also have to be sure that what you are bringing is working. And it will be the key factor for the next couple of years.”
Despite Ferrari having a 55-point gap to Red Bull in the Constructors’ Championship as the sport returns to Europe, Vasseur insists the title isn’t a foregone conclusion.
The Frenchman has pinpointed the Italian marque’s improved fortunes compared to 12 months ago to underline how the overall pecking order in F1 can evolve swiftly.
“First, we did only seven races out of 24,” Vasseur stressed. “It means that we still have 18 or 17 [races] to go.
“At this point of the season last year, we were 100 points behind Aston Martin, and we finished with 100 points in front of them.
“It means that the end of the championship is never after race seven. And it’s even more true this season, I think, because the gap is very close.
“It’s not very often that you have six or eight cars who could win a race. It means that when you are not in good shape, you can move from P1 to P8. On P8 you are scoring almost zero.
“It means that the championship can change in one or two weekends. Imagine that you have a crash or DNF… It’s a game-changer in terms of championship.
“Honestly, I didn’t have a look on the classification and I don’t know exactly the delta of points.
“But I think that if one team is doing 1-2 and the other one is at the DNF, McLaren can come back or we can come back on Red Bull.
“It means that it’s still 17 weekends to go. Let’s be focused on Monaco.
“Don’t think about the championship, or at least it’s what I will tell my guys tomorrow morning. Be focused on what we have to do race after race. We’ll have time to discuss about this.”
