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As Ferrari again trails Red Bull and
McLaren, Technical Director Aldo Costa
admits that the team is all at sea: "How do
we get out of this situation? If it was
easy, we would have done it already, but we
are not yet clear as to where the problem
lies." |
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“We are not where we
thought we were this winter: we lack performance.”
Scuderia Ferrari’s Technical Director, Aldo Costa did
not mince his words and admitted that, at the moment the
150° Italia is not a match for the two best cars in the
pack, the Red Bull and the McLaren.
Costa provided a precise analysis: At the last Barcelona
test, we introduced a big package of updates on the car.
Some of them worked as we had expected, while others, to
do with the front end, were less effective and so we
found ourselves with an unexpected performance deficit
in Melbourne. But let’s make this clear, this version of
the car is quicker than the one that made its debut in
Valencia, but we have not improved to the extent we
would have liked. How do we get out of this situation?
If it was easy, we would have done it already, but we
are not yet clear as to where the problem lies.
“We are working on it, but it’s a case of a complete
evaluation we are currently undertaking, not just here
at the track but also in the factory. When we have
understood the situation, that will mean we have already
made a good step forward and then we will need to be
even more aggressive in terms of development of the car,
because there are two teams that have set the bar very
high. At Maranello, we have a lot of talented people and
they are very peed off with this situation and I know
that everyone is very keen to fight back.”
Costa also outlined how this reaction will take place.
“We are working on different areas. There will be
something new in China, and something more significant
in Turkey and for the rest of the season. Will it be
enough? I don’t know the answer to that now. Clearly we
have to push harder than the others because we have to
make up the ground we have lost, which today is greater
than was the case last year. We have to change our
approach in order to succeed.”
Working on two fronts; preparing for a race weekend and
carrying out an in-depth analysis of the car, comes with
a price to pay. “The time we spent yesterday on
aerodynamic testing came out of the time available to
work out the right set-up on the car and on studying the
behaviour of the tyres,” explained Aldo. “However,
between yesterday and today, we have made progress and I
think that showed in qualifying and I hope that will
also be the case tomorrow in the race. Clearly, I don’t
expect us to be as quick as the top four, but I am sure
we will do our best.”
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