Sebastian Vettel: "Ferrari has identified its weaknesses"

Scuderia Ferrari has identified the weak areas of its 2017 Formula 1 car and has a good understanding of how to address them to maintain its title challenge in the second part of the F1 season, according to German driver Sebastian Vettel. The Maranello team has managed to produce its most competitive car in the V6 era this season, enabling it to challenge Mercedes for the constructors’ championship with Sebastian Vettel leading his main title rival Lewis Hamilton in the drivers’ standings ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix.

The two teams’ form has ebbed and flowed throughout the season, with Scuderia Ferrari coming out on top most recently at the tight-and-twisty Hungaroring track before Formula One paused for its usual August summer break. That victory followed a run of races that suggested Mercedes had gained the upper hand in the development race, but Sebastian now confirms that Ferrari knew what areas it needed to address to keep up its charge:

“We have been competitive every track where we’ve gone. It is true that Mercedes has here and there been more competitive and we were a little bit behind. It’s normal from track to track there’s a bit of a difference. For drivers, some tracks we like more than others so it’s the same for the car. It is normal, it’s up and down but that’s not our target – we want to be the best on every track we go. That’s not the case yet but we’re working on it. We have quite a good understanding of what the car needs. Now we have the time to look into a couple of things with a bit more peace and calm and try to improve.” – the German driver said, as reported by the Italian media.

Sebastian Vettel praised Scuderia Ferrari’s efforts with this year’s challenge and added it was a good sign that rivals were copying its ideas: “It is a fact to say in the last couple of years we didn’t have the best car and it’s a fact to say in the last couple of years we weren’t the strongest in developing the car. If you look at the last three years, this year is a different story and we keep progressing. “We have brought a lot of bits, we’ve seen a lot of bits of people copying ours but that is a good sign fo us, because it’s testimony of good and hard work and the achievement that has gone into this project and we keep pushing flat-out.” – Sebastian Vettel concluded.