Sebastian Vettel says Ferrari needs to extract the maximum from its “quick” package at the Spanish Grand Prix, in the wake of Mercedes’ pace during practice.
Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas led the way in both sessions on Friday at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with Vettel finishing in fourth spot.
Championship leader Vettel wound up 0.418s behind Hamilton over one-lap, and reckons Ferrari needs to perfect its set-up across the remainder of the weekend.
“Today I wasn’t very happy with the feeling I could get, but I can also feel that the car is quick,” he said. “It’s a question of getting it right.
“Obviously today I don’t feel so good inside the car. It was quite slippery, but I think it was due to the conditions. I think everybody was struggling a bit.”
Mercedes has brought a raft of updates to its W08 but Vettel played down the significance of the overhaul.
“I don’t [know] who brought the most updates,” he commented.
“I don’t think it matters who brought the most, I think it matters who brought the best. Some of them are more visual than others.
“I’m happy with what we brought. Some of the stuff you can see, some of the stuff you will not see.”
Team-mate Kimi Räikkönen finished third and rued a “difficult day,” but attributed the situation to the conditions, rather than any fundamental flaw.
“It was a difficult day overall,” he said. “I think the conditions were very tricky, especially at the end, but it’s the same for everybody.
“It’s pretty normal from testing, the circuit feels always very good, then we come in the summer and it’s more slippery and tricky.
“It wasn’t an easy day, but we kept trying things and we’ll see were we come out tomorrow.”
