MONTE CARLO, Monaco - Ferrari is persevering with a major car upgrade despite it not working last time out in in Barcelona.
The Maranello team's 2015 resurgence came to a halt during the 2015 Spanish Formula 1 GP when a big package of "improvements" for the 2015 car actually resulted in a widening of the gap between it and pace-setter Mercedes.
Driver Kimi Raikkonen even swopped to the previous car but, after the post-race tests, Ferrari was said to have been relieved to have resolved most of the issues with the SF15-T's upgrade.
STEP BACKWARDS
Raikkonen said: "We think they are good parts otherwise they would not be on the car."
Indeed, both he and team mate Sebastian Vettel will race the upgraded car in Monaco this weekend (May 24 2015). "We are confident this is the right way to go so we've decided to keep the new parts in the car."
Vettel, however, even given the step backwards in Barcelona, said any talk of Ferrari taking on Mercedes for the championship was premature. "If the gap is as big as it was then," he said. "it becomes difficult to talk about being in the fight for the championship."
Vettel did, however, admit he was looking forward to using Pirelli's super-soft' tyre for the first time, given the characteristics of the 2015 car.
Asked how he was expecting to go, he grinned: "Super-good, I hope!"