Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur has called on his team to channel the “frustration” that has come from its regression as a “push to come back” to the front in Formula 1.
The Italian marque began the campaign in positive shape as its revamped SF-24 car proved consistent in race trim and was the closest challenger to Red Bull’s RB20.
However, Ferrari has since experienced a slump as updates at June’s Spanish Grand Prix induced unintended bouncing at high speed which has blighted its progress.
Ferrari has registered two podiums in the past six races compared to nine in the opening eight rounds and dropped to third in the Constructors’ table behind McLaren.
But Vasseur is adamant that the team remains determined to return to its earlier-season competitiveness and is using this period as motivation to drive that ambition.
“Somehow you need to have a kind of frustration when you’re not doing well because it’s also the best push to come back,” Vasseur told F1.com.
“It has to stay under control. We had four tough weekends [Canada, Spain, Austria and Britain].
“The mood in the team was not good, as it was not what we wanted, but there was positivity about trying to catch up and understand why and fix it. The attitude is good.”
Vasseur has insisted since he was appointed to the helm last season that he wants to eradicate the tense environment that discouraged engineers from taking risks.
With narrow gaps separating the teams at the sharp end, the Frenchman has repeated his desire to see Ferrari be prepared to gamble in pursuit of incremental gains.
“If I have to be proud of something, it’s not the result,” he added.
“The result is a consequence. It’s more the fact everybody is more keen to take risk, a bit less scared – the consequence is the result.
“The fact that we are trying to change a bit the mentality. It’s a mindset for me. You can’t keep margin. You have to take risk everywhere [if you want to win].
“This is a racing mentality. It is probably also the DNA of Red Bull. It’s where we need a step forward.”
Ferrari will resume the F1 season at Zandvoort next weekend in third place in the Constructors’ Championship, 21 points behind McLaren and 79 ahead of Mercedes.
