Ferrari technical director James Allison says the Scuderia enters this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix on the back a “very successful” Barcelona F1 test, which saw the Italian team make noticeable progress.
Ferrari experienced a somewhat frustrating Spanish GP, as it struggled more than expected and failed to capitalise on both Mercedes drivers taking each other out on the opening lap of the race.
The Maranello-based outfit thus endeavoured to use last week’s two-day session to get to the bottom of its issues. According to Allison, Ferrari has met the targets set out in its job list.
“We spent a couple of days in Barcelona after the grand prix through a whole range of technical setups and improvements to our car,” Allison said. “It was a very successful test for us and happily we made some progresses. So, we are looking forward to taking more lessons and apply them in Monaco.”
Ferrari’s Barcelona problems were particularly evident in qualifying as well as over the final sector of the track, a slow and twisty segment that mirrors the demands of Monaco. Allison says the Scuderia can not afford to scupper its chances on Saturday again in the Principality.
“[Monaco] is a circuit, of course, where a good grid position is absolutely everything for getting a good race result. That good grid position comes from a whole weekend where you can’t afford any mistakes.
“The track changes so much as the weekend progresses that you have to be on it all the time. This is a very high downforce circuit, the corners being so slow, the straights being so short, and the cars which have the most downforce available generally do well on this track.”
Ferrari has not won F1’s most iconic grand prix since Michael Schumacher claimed victory in 2001.
Chris Medland's 2016 Monaco Grand Prix preview
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