Ferrari notes ‘good sign’ amid Spa struggles

Ferrari team principal Maurizio says the Scuderia was still able to take some positives from last weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, despite its drivers experiencing an incident-filled event in Spa.

Having showed improved speed in qualifying to lock out the second row of the grid, Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel’s races were undone after the pair collided at La Source.

Although Ferrari ended up losing another eight points to Red Bull in the fight for second place in the Constructors’ championship, Arrivabene, who refused to apportion blame in the first-corner clash, was pleased to see both SF16-Hs recover into the points-paying positions

“For me it’s encouraging that after the accident- where both cars were really damaged on the floor and in other areas, the performance [that Vettel and Raikkonen] showed out there was much stronger,” the team principal said.

“The performance on the track, considering this problem, was quite good. So we turn a page and we look forward with Monza with positive information.”

As Ferrari heads to its home event without any win to its name this year, the pressure is unlikely to ease off. But Arrivabene insists the team’s spirited display in Spa is testament to its strength of character.

“As you know all the tracks have different characteristics but I think it was also a good sign, considering the reaction of our guys last Friday, not only here but also at home,” the Italian added.

“The team is very compact, we are all united here and at home and we are pushing all together and looking forward to have a good race at the Italian Grand Prix.”

Belgian Grand Prix - quotes of the week

F1i's driver ratings - Spa-Francorchamps

RACE REPORT: Rosberg wins at Spa as Hamilton recovers to third

Breakfast with ... Otmar Szafnauer

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter