Vasseur shares ‘limit’ concern as Ferrari chase performance

Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur has outlined F1 teams are “at the limit” when it comes to finding extra performance.

F1's current regulations are in their third year, with a major rule change implemented for the 2022 campaign.

The next shake-up of the technical regulations will not occur until 2026, with new power unit and aerodynamic rules presenting one of the biggest F1 rule shifts for some time.

Ferrari commenced the current season in strong fashion but has slipped back in the pecking order as its development process has hit a snag this year through a concern over bouncing.

However, Vasseur understands that minor gains can have major benefits due to how close the competition is at the front of the field.

“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 told media including RacingNews365.

“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.”

Ferrari aiming to restore driver confidence

Vasseur added having the same regulation cycle in place for many years makes it harder to find performance.

However, the Ferrari boss highlighted the team must get to the bottom of its bouncing concerns to restore confidence from the drivers.

“And we are also on the edge of the development,” he said. “I think that we have the same regulation for 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.”