Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur has asserted that Formula 1 teams are now on “the edge of development” when it comes to performance under the current regulations.
Red Bull’s sizeable advantage that was prevalent again earlier this season has dissipated in recent times as McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari have all logged race wins.
Ferrari opened the campaign as Red Bull’s main challenger, but updates in Barcelona have triggered recurring bouncing at high speed that has thwarted its prospects.
The marque’s demise has seen McLaren become a genuine contender to Red Bull in the title race, while a resurgent Mercedes has taken three victories in four events.
Red Bull boss Christian Horner has reiterated that convergence was inevitable, while Technical Director Pierre Wache credited the condensed pack to restrictive rules.
Vasseur is certain that the recent setback Ferrari has encountered with development proves how close the sides are to the ceiling with the current ground effect cars.
“In one hand, we are convinced and it’s obvious that for one-tenth or one-tenth and a half, you change completely the physiognomy of the weekend,” Vasseur said.
“We are all pushing to bring parts. And you know that the correlation between what we are doing at the factory and the track for the bouncing is not an easy one.
“It was not easy for Mercedes, it was not easy for us, it was not easy for other teams from the beginning of the season.
“And we are also on the edge of the development. I think that we have the same regulation by four years. And we have a kind of asymptote of performance.
“It’s more and more difficult to chase the last tenth of seconds. We are a bit more at the limit. It’s true for everybody.
“We have to police ourselves from the fact that bouncing is key. It’s not just a matter of performance, but it’s mainly a matter of confidence of the drivers.
“If you gain one tenth due to downforce, then you are losing three tenths by the confidence of the drivers or the consistency of the drivers.”
Vasseur has explained that resolving Ferrari’s bouncing hindrance is more complicated as it is not a consistent issue and can’t be simulated through the wind tunnel.
“The issue is that when the bouncing is not under control, and I think it’s quite impossible to simulate the bouncing also, because you can see that from session to session, when the wind changes direction or whatever, that the bouncing can appear or disappear,” he expanded. “It’s really marginal. We are all really on the edge of this.
“You can’t simulate this in the wind tunnel. We have some metrics to imagine if we will be in a better shape or not.
“But at the end of the day, we are also pushed by the tough performance that we could gain with a bit more downforce sometimes.
“It’s a good exercise to improve on those tools, because we have to imagine how to simulate this kind of non-stable situation.
“We made a huge step forward, but everybody made a huge step forward.
“The issue is that we are developing much closer to the limit, and at the end of the day, we always have to play with this bouncing, to stay closer.
“Whoever shoots, you have to take a step back, and we are really on the edge of it.”
