Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto admits the updates introduced on its SF90 in France did not have the desired impact, but the team did gain some clarity on the direction it needs to follow.
In a bid to improve its speed and bridge the gap with Mercedes, the Scuderia brought to Paul Ricard revised front and rear wings, new brake ducts and a modified floor.
The team discarded the latter after Friday's practice, and the former did not improve the SF90's overall performance although the updated components did provide an indication of the development path Ferrari needs to follow.
"I think it’s always a shame when something is not working so we’ve got some homework to do in that respect but that’s ensuring that we’ve got some margin to improve the car," Binotto said.
"At least the direction that we are starting to set is the right one.
"I think we are looking for eventually more downforce to the detriment of the speed.
"We knew the car wouldn’t be too efficient but giving more downforce to make the tyres working, that would be the direction to go.
"I think again here on Saturday we’ve seen how difficult it is to make the tyres working. I think that is somehow something on which we are focused on."
©Ferrari
Looking ahead at this week's Austrian Grand Prix, Binotto is happy the event immediately follows France, although the Swiss engineer underlined the very different nature of the venue in Spielberg.
"We are happy to be getting back on track so quickly, because it’s the best way to put ourselves to the test again to try and understand the elements that did not go according to plan in France," he added.
"We have various test items to evaluate, mainly in order to give us a clearer picture as to why some of the updates we brought to Le Castellet did not work as expected.
"The Austrian track is very different to Paul Ricard. The first sector has long straights and braking in a straight line, while the second part is tighter, with a mix of low and medium-high speed corners.
"The forecast is for very hot conditions, so it will be a demanding weekend on the cooling front, both for the engine and the brakes, which means tyre management will also be very difficult."
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