Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur has stressed the importance of executing weekends more cleanly after a costly run of results for the team at recent races. Since winning the British Grand Prix at the start of July, their second win in the space of three races, Ferrari have seen their challenge in both championship battles fade with Charles Leclerc's second place in Belgium before the summer break their only podium finish from the last five rounds. That is despite the SF-26 continuing to look competitive at different stages of race weekends, most recently in Madrid when Lewis Hamilton held provisional pole after the first runs of Q3 only to end up fourth on the grid.
And heading to a wall-lined Baku street circuit at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix this weekend where driver momentum is key and mistakes are regularly punished, Vasseur says Ferrari must be at the top of their game. "The last few races have demonstrated that our car can deliver a good level of competitiveness, but they have also highlighted how important it is to put every part of the weekend together," said the Ferrari team principal. "Baku is a very specific challenge, where confidence in the car and execution are particularly important.
"It is also a circuit where the weekend can throw up several variables, so we need to stay focused on ourselves, adapt to whatever situations arise and make the most of every opportunity." Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Ferrari's recent lack of podiums mean the team's hopes of ending what stands as a 18-year world title drought look increasingly remote this season. Lead scorer Hamilton slipped over 100 points behind Kimi Antonelli for the first time after retiring from the Madrid race with brake problems, while Ferrari are now 145 points behind Mercedes in the Constructors' Championship. Third-placed McLaren have outscored Ferrari at each of the last four rounds to close to within 52 points of the Scuderia with a scheduled nine rounds left.
Speaking on The F1 Show podcast, Sky Sports F1 pundit Nico Rosberg said Ferrari were consistently "very close" to the leading pace but that their execution of race weekends continued to let them down. "Isn't it the case that Ferrari always have messy weekends?" asked the 2016 world champion. "It's just that Achilles' heel is still in the strategy area, communication area.
That's always been a weakness and still is a weakness of theirs now. "Because the pace of the car is close - it's damn close to being able to challenge consistency for race wins. "And even now [in Madrid], let's not forget, Lewis would have in a comfortable second position in the race.
He would have finished second after Max [Verstappen] had to let him through. He would have definitely finished second place behind Kimi quite easily. They're just not putting it together properly.
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