Ferrari ready to get 'cooking' to boost F1 form

Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur has stated his squad must start “cooking” after collecting all the ingredients for a successful run of form.

The Italian squad has endured a difficult start to the campaign as it captured its first podium of the year last time out in Saudi Arabia.

It lies fourth in the standings after the opening five rounds and has been unable to pose a threat at the front of the field, bar Lewis Hamilton's surprise victory during the sprint race in China.

Hamilton has largely struggled to settle at Ferrari following his switch from Mercedes, with his best grand prix result being fifth in Bahrain.

Having scored less than half the points of title leaders McLaren, Vasseur is confident Ferrari has the elements to make steps forward.

“The ingredients are all there, but now it's like cooking, and you have to put the ingredients together at the right stage,” Vasseur told media including RacingNews365.

“Honestly, I don't have the feeling that we’ve extracted the best from the car so far, or perhaps on some occasions, some sessions. 

“But I’d say it's true for us and for the others. Even McLaren, with the step they have compared to the rest of the grid, sometimes you have one of their cars that is struggling a bit more. It is what it is.”

Close qualifying deficits conjuring F1 'drama'

F1 is currently in the final years of the current cycle of technical regulations, with development gains increasingly difficult to find.

It has made the field spread dramatically close and created headaches when it comes to navigating qualifying.

“A couple of years ago, you could go to Q1 with a set of Mediums, do one lap, and you were in Q2,” Vasseur outlined.

“Today, even the top teams have to put sometimes two sets of softs. Again, the field is very, very tight, and each time you make a mistake, you can lose five or six positions. Then the conclusion from outside is that it's a drama.

“We're more focused on pure performance, and five hundredths is not a drama. That means we need to stay calm in the analysis if we want to improve. 

“I think it was one of the skills of the team last year to be able to capitalise hundredths of a second at a time. I hope we'll follow the same path this year.”