Ferrari have had a major rethink of their Formula One car, but updates to make it go faster would not be ready until the season’s third race, team principal Mattia Binotto said on Tuesday.
Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc would instead start the virus-delayed season in Austria on Sunday in cars similar to those that they wrapped up testing with in Spain at the end of February.
“The truth is that the outcome of the tests led us to take a significant change of direction in terms of development, especially on the aerodynamic front,” Binotto said on Ferrari’s Web site. “First, we had to understand why we did not see the results we had expected on the track and how much to recalibrate the whole program as a result.”
“It would have been counterproductive to continue in the direction we had planned, knowing that we would not have reached our goals,” Binotto said. “Therefore we decided to come up with a new program that looked at the whole car, knowing that not all of it would be ready for the first race.”
Champions Mercedes and also Red Bull looked faster in testing, with Ferrari coming away from the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Montmelo, Spain, recognizing that they lacked comparative pace.
The season, which was supposed to start in Australia on March 15, has two races scheduled at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria, before moving to Hungary and then Britain.
“Our aim is to introduce the updates at the third race on July 19 at the Hungaroring,” Binotto said, adding that Ferrari had used the weeks since the Maranello factory reopened to analyze the car’s behavior with simulation work and input from the drivers.
“In Austria, we must try and make the most of every opportunity and then in Hungary,” Binotto said. “We will be able to see where we are really, compared to the others.”
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