Ferrari drivers say SF1000 lacking performance in all areas

Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel agree that Ferrari's SF1000 is lacking performance in all areas, a weakness that only a full package upgrade will solve according to the Monegasque.

The Scuderia endured a low-profile start to its Austrian Grand Prix weekend, with Leclerc and Vettel clocking in respectively P10 and P12 in Friday's opening practice session.

Improvements were in order for FP2, with Vettel securing a spot among the top four, but over half a second behind Mercedes pacesetter Lewis Hamilton.

Leclerc was a lowly 9th in the afternoon session, admitting that Ferrari's big upgrade scheduled for the Hungarian Grand Prix later this month can't come soon enough.

"All the cars are very close, which is exciting to see on the one hand, but on the other hand, we would like to be fighting a bit nearer the front," Leclerc commented.

"The balance of the car is not that bad, we need to catch up in terms of overall performance.

"The lack of pace is not down to any one thing in particular so we’ll try different ways for tomorrow and see if we can gain some performance.

"Qualifying will be good for the show, as there are quite a lot of teams all close together.

"We’ll be fighting very hard and it’s crucial we make the right choice tonight to come back with a stronger car tomorrow."

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Birthday boy Vettel, who turned 33 on Friday,  echoed his teammate's assessment regarding the overall relative weakness of the SF1000 package, but also the tight cluster of cars fighting behind Mercedes.

"I think we had a decent day," said the German. "We didn’t have any trouble with the cars.

"It was good for us all to be back at the track and it was good to see that the team got up to speed fairly quickly and had no problems running through all the procedures. In terms of speed and competitiveness, it was an interesting day.

"I think we’ve seen that we are not at the top, that we are not the favourites. And then there is a lot of stuff going on behind that, and it’s very tight."

Vettel dismissed Ferrari challenging for pole on Saturday, saying the team's ambitions are likely to be limited to fighting for best of the rest.

"We will see, I think tomorrow will be a big day," he added. "I don’t think we will be fighting for pole, but we must try to be the best of those behind that battle.

"We didn’t take much notice of the teams around us to be honest, as it’s always difficult to predict what sort of fuel loads people are running.

"I think we will see tomorrow, because we haven’t got a clear picture today.

"It’s up to us to develop and work so that the car gets faster. We’re lacking grip and downforce compared to others. So it’s a mix of all these things."

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