Ferrari boss Maurizio Arrivabene insists that the update package that the team introduced in Spain was successful – but he admits that there is much work to be done to close the gap to Mercedes that opened up again this weekend.
Sebastian Vettel ran the new package in the race, whereas Kimi Raikkonen went back to more proven elements. Vettel dropped back on the hard tyre in the final stint to finish 45s behind winner Nico Rosberg.
“The comparison between the two cars is clearly there,” said Arrivabene. “Sebastian was going very well, we need to improve of course the new solution. Here in Barcelona it is not an easy track, but it was not easy for all the others too. The gap with Mercedes is there; now we need to analyse all the data we collect to understand what is clear.
“We are not blind, it is the fact that in the last sector we were losing half a second. I am not escaping the reality, it is there – we need to understand and we need to find out how to improve the new package. The new package is better than the old one.”
Regarding the gap to Mercedes he added: “We need to understand if it is related to this track, which for us is difficult, or it is related to us. This is good to know in the next few days where we are, Tuesday or Wednesday, to finalise the comparison.
“If something was wrong, I am not criticising anybody, I am taking my responsibility because I am here at the head of the team, if something is wrong and we have gone back, we have to have humility, we have to say we made a mistake. At the moment the numbers that we have in comparison are telling us that the solution is good, but the reality is it is not good enough, so we have to work.”
Arrivabene is adamant that the team can achieve his stated target of winning three races in 2015.
“I still believe that this is achievable but there is nothing is life that you can achieve without working hard and this is what we have to do. I don’t really care about being on the podium. If you look at the situation that we had last year, now every race weekend we are on the podium, but what I care about is the gap. If we want to win two or three races we have to be able to be there, at the moment we are not.”
Adam Cooper's F1 Blog 
Barcelona 2015 was a strangely chaotic series of disappointments for Ferrari after the progress made in Bahrain. Lets hope it’s a one off, and a return to progressive ways begins in Monaco.
Please remember to switch off those tyre blankets before locking up for the night .. 🙂
I can’t give you exact reasons, but I do like the cut of his jib.
I think he’s right, though I wouldn’t base it on the Barcelona results, look at the interval between Vettel and Rosberg.
Or for that matter look at how many cars were a lap or more down.