Ferrari confirm aero upgrade package for Russia, but admit it "won't make a difference"

Scuderia Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto has delivered a damning assessment of Ferrari’s SF1000, saying even small updates “won’t make a difference”.

Although the Italian side was back in the points at the Tuscan Grand Prix, bringing both cars home inside the top ten, one could argue that was because only 12 cars finished rather than a sign of improving pace. Charles Leclerc was eighth at Ferrari’s 1000th grand prix with Sebastian Vettel P10 having managed to fend off the Williams of George Russell.

Sunday’s result means the Scuderia remains sixth in the championship with 66 points, 17 behind Renault.

“It is a difficult project,” Mattia Binotto conceded to Sky Italia – “We lose pace after a few laps, there is no explanation. We are disappointed, we need a step back to review everything at the base. Small changes won’t make a difference.”

Charles Leclerc was Ferrari’s fastest driver around the Mugello circuit, fifth in qualifying. However, come race day he did not have the speed to maintain that position. He added: “It is very tough at the moment but we need to keep our head up, stay motivated. That’s very important in these tough times. Hopefully we will see that better times are coming.”

Mattia Binotto acknowledged that his driver has every right to feel disappointed but that didn’t see a light at the end of the tunnel, at least not for this season: “Leclerc is right, we are disappointed,” he said. “We had no race pace. After a few laps we lose pace, the result is the consequence. There is no explanation, we suffer from a marked deterioration of the tyres. Some small updates will already be there from the next race, but it will not make a difference. We need a step back to reset, we also work hard in the factory to correct the base of the package, also in view of 2021. We cannot count on small changes. It is only a small upgrade. It will probably not change the big picture. We need to reconsider our upcoming development projects, especially in the view of 2021.” – he concluded.