"We are reorganising the team without panicking," says Arrivabene
Tuesday 2 August 2016 11:11, UK
Beleaguered Ferrari will complete further reorganisation of their underperforming F1 team after admitting a failure to improve their car's aerodynamics lies behind their slump in form.
The Scuderia's hopes of ending their near-decade title drought are all but over for another year after an increasingly turbulent first half of the 2016 season. The Italian team are yet to win a race and have slipped to third behind Red Bull in the Constructors' Championship.
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Highly-respected technical director James Allison left the team ahead of last weekend's German GP and has been replaced by head of engines Mattia Binotto.
Speaking after his cars finished more than half a minute behind Mercedes at Hockenheim, team boss Maurizio Arrivabene insisted the team knew where they had to improve and were putting changes in place.
"We are reorganising the team without panicking because taking that decision means that we are clear in mind what to do in terms of organisation," he said.
"Looking forward for the rest of the season, we know as well, very, very clearly the area where we have to work."
Arrivabene confirmed that their aerodynamic development of the SF16-H had stalled since May's Spanish GP.
"In Canada we reacted quite well thanks to the engine, but if I look at the situation now and I go back, we don't have great improvement in downforce since Barcelona. That is the problem," he said.
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"This is the reason why I said we clearly know we have to work now and we have to do it as soon as possible, even if it's not easy."
By contrast, rivals Red Bull have made consistent improvements since the start of the season and have finished with at least one car ahead of Ferrari in each of the last four races. They now lead the Scuderia by 14 points in the standings in the battle for second behind runaway leaders Mercedes.
"They improved quite well, it's in front of all of us and it was something that was in our mind," Arrivabene added.
"That doesn't mean we are going to surrender. During this [summer] period we have to think about it and react."
Don't miss the F1 Report: German GP review and half-term report on Wednesday at 8.30pm on Sky F1 with Natalie Pinkham, Marc Priestley and Mike Gascoyne
