Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur is convinced the Italian team is making steps in the right direction but still wants more performance on the SF-24.
The Scuderia finished fourth and sixth at the Hungaroring, an improvement on last year when the two Ferraris were on the verge of being lapped by race winner Max Verstappen, with Leclerc and Sainz P7 and P8 on that day.
McLaren’s unbelievable progress over the last year has shown Ferrari has a way to go to compete for championships, however.
The strong race pace shown to be able to challenge Verstappen and Hamilton comes after a lack of pace for Ferrari recently, even if Carlos Sainz was on the podium in Austria.
“At the end, we had a strong pace on Sunday. Last year, we finished 65 seconds behind the Red Bull, and this weekend, we are 20 seconds behind the leader and in front of the Red Bull.
“I think the last 12 months, we did a decent job. Now, it’s not enough. It’s clear that McLaren was faster than us. It was McLaren, and they were faster than us by a two or three tenths over the weekend.
“But looking after where we are coming back and the last two or three events we did a good recovery. Now let’s be focused on the next one. We need to do a step in performance, but we are on the right way.”
Ferrari has floundered in recent races, scoring just one podium since Charles Leclerc’s home victory in Monaco.
After Monaco, they were Red Bull’s closest challenger, sitting just 24 points behind in the Constructors’ Championship.
In the past five races, the margin has stretched to 67 points, and Ferrari has dropped to third place behind McLaren.
Ferrari has been battling with an upgraded floor initially introduced at the Spanish Grand Prix. The floor re-introduced bouncing problems, forcing the Italian team to start running the pre-Barcelona spec at Silverstone.
Vasseur said after Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix that Ferrari’s further revisions to the floor brought to Hungary were unplanned.
The Frenchman explained that the team worked relentlessly at Maranello to have the update ready for Hungary.
“You know that it was not planned to have something this weekend. And after Silverstone, that we pushed like hell at the factory.
“When I say like hell, I think they were in the wind tunnel right after the race to try to understand, to find a solution. We found a solution. We were able to produce four kits for this weekend.
“I want to keep the same dynamic that I think it’s also positive for the team that maybe is understanding again, I’m not happy with the result of today, but I think we did a good step forward in terms of competitiveness compared to last week.”
He added that minor improvements are required to challenge at the very front rather than a sizeable one if you compare it to last year’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
“We have to continue in the same direction now because the gap between the cars, it’s a matter of two or three tenths that we finish the race 20 seconds (behind the leader) in 70 laps.
“That is less than three tenths a lap, if you consider that there is a five-second gap after lap one.
“Now, we don’t have to change things. We have to do small steps there and there. We are just two small steps here and there.
“And sometimes it’s a bit difficult, because when you are P5, P6, you have the feeling that you are miles away, and you want to change massively things, and it’s not like this that you will recover.
“It’s just to do a small step on different topics, and honestly we have to put our attention on this.
“It’s much easier to pay attention to details, when you are P1, P2, than when you are P6, you want to change massively everything, and I think we have to stay focused on what we are doing now.”
