Monaco - Sebastian Vettel says Ferrari's aggressive strategy of full attack will not always work out for the ambitious Maranello team.
The German insists he is driving a better car than in 2015, even though a year ago he had already won the first of his three races for the season.
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No results
"We have become better, it's just the results don't show it yet," Vettel told Germany's Sport Bild.
"There is still a gap to Mercedes, that's true, but it has become much smaller. You can't just move mountains overnight," he said.
Barcelona was obviously a setback for Ferrari, with the red team not even able to capitalise on Mercedes' double-DNF, as Red Bull's Max Verstappen won.
Ferrari has been working on the cause of its sudden qualifying pace problem at the Barcelona test this week.
After a long pause before answering, Vettel said: "We are giving everything - sometimes maybe even a little too much. But we have to try everything."
Asked, then, if errors are forgivable as Ferrari pushes to catch and beat Mercedes, Vettel admitted: "No. The technical problems we have had were not in the plan.
"But catching up is always a balancing act. Perhaps some improvements have come a bit too early, but if we think something is an advantage in speed, we want to bring it to the track as quickly as possible."