11/05/2015
NEWS STORY
After a disappointing performance in Spain, team boss Maurizio Arrivabene admits the team must work harder.
Though a podium place looks good on paper, the fact is that Sebastian Vettel finished 45s down on winner Nico Rosberg and 28s down on second-placed Lewis Hamilton. Kimi Raikkonen, who started from seventh on the grid, could only manage fifth.
Whilst almost all the teams took upgrades to Barcelona, Ferrari took the most, even though it appears the Maranello outfit opted for quantity over quality.
Following a stark reminder that his team is not yet ready to mount a sustained challenge to Mercedes, Arrivabene admitted that there is still much work to be done.
"The comparison of the two aerodynamic configurations in the race clearly shows that Sebastian's car was going very well versus Kimi's," he said.
"We need to improve," he added. "The gap to Mercedes is there and we need to analyse our data to understand the reasons.
"We're not blind to the fact that we were losing about half a second in T3 only, which puts a premium on traction, and we must find out whether this depends on the nature of the track or on our faults.
"Strategy-wise, we took an aggressive approach by having Seb stop only twice for tyres. If we had gone for a three-stopper, things wouldn't have changed or would have been even worse.
"The numbers tell us that the new solutions are good, the reality shows that they are not good enough. We did make a step forward, but it was supposed to be a jump. I am not blaming anyone in particular, I am taking my own responsibilities. We need to work harder."