Ferrari to hold off on updates until British GP

Ferrari says it likely won't bring its next major update to its F1-75 until the British Grand Prix at Silverstone in early July due to a blend of financial management and calendar timing.

The Scuderia added a significant number of new components to its 2022 car in Barcelona last weekend, changes that benefitted the Italian outfit's charger although an engine issue sidelined Charles Leclerc while the Monegasque was enjoying a healthy lead in the race.

Ferrari and Leclerc are engaged in a fierce fight this season with arch-rivals Red Bull and Max Verstappen, and each team is relying on its all-important development programme to keep it in the mix for the title.

But F1's budget cap is forcing outfits to stringently manage and plan their update schedules over the course of the entire season.

"I think the budget cap is dictating somehow what we can do," explained Scuderia boss Mattia Binotto. "We need to certainly have a close look at it and not wasting our money, because we cannot simply do that.

"I think we'll bring upgrades when we have got a significant one. It will not come every single race that we will be bringing pieces."

But Binotto added that the upcoming succession of street circuits – Monaco and Baku – is also a factor in deciding when the team introduces new parts.

"On top of that, I think you can look at the next races. We've got now Monaco where maybe you're bringing a new front suspension for steering angle, and then later on, we've got Baku which is a city circuit.

"So I think it will be around the UK where maybe some developments will arrive."

• Read also: Ferrari says MGU-H, turbo caused Leclerc engine failure

This weekend's round of racing in Monte-Carlo will offer Leclerc an immediate opportunity to try and recoup the championship lead that he lost in Barcelona to Verstappen.

The Monegasque was obviously disappointed to suffer an engine failure in Spain, but his pace all weekend in Spain at the wheel of Ferrari's updated car augurs well for a home race revenge, despite his cursed bad luck in the Principality.

"Of course, it has not been the luckiest track for me overall but it’s life, it happens, it’s part of motorsport, sometimes things just don’t go your way," he said. "Hopefully this year they will.

"I will take the same approach I have in the first races of 2022 because it has been successful up until now and hopefully it will be successful at home."

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