F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Ferrari not against replacing Vettel's SF1000 chassis

Ferrari could possibly supply a new SF1000 chassis to Sebastian Vettel in light of the German driver's ongoing struggles, which neither team or driver can understand.

After a low-key performance in the British Grand Prix which Vettel finished 10th, the four-time world champion slumped down to P12 in Sunday's 70th Anniversary Grand Prix.

Vettel's race wasn't helped by a spin on the opening lap that sent him down the order, nor did it benefit from strategy calls that engulfed him in traffic for the better part of the afternoon.

However, Vettel insists he cannot extract anymore speed from his car, hinting at a potential fundamental issue impacting his SF1000.

But Scuderia boss Mattia Binotto is open to replacing Vettel's chassis to help solve the latter's plight, although it's an option that has yet to be at the House of Maranello.

"It is something at least which I didn't discuss ," said Binotto after Sunday's race.

"That's part of the discussion we have within teams. I think we are open if it is something that may help. Why not?

"I think whatever we can do to help is important for us, for Sebastian, and I think from a team point of view and a driver point of view, to try to make better in the next races.

"It is important, so open to do it. I will leave it to the driver and the team to discuss and decide."

©Ferrari

Vettel admitted to being puzzled by the fact that he could not improve his form between Silverstone's two rounds.

"You had two weekends in the same place and from Saturday morning, last week, I wasn't able to make any progress. That's the thing that stands out," he said.

"I think around the lap, this weekend is a bit more difficult to judge because we ran slightly different downforce levels on the car. Around the lap, it seems like a fairly even loss and mostly I struggle in lower speed and medium speed corners.

"It’s something that we didn't get on top of. We have obviously the next race coming in a week, not here again, but somewhere else so we'll see what we can do. But hopefully we can be back to the table with normal pace."

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Michael Delaney

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