Four time world champion Sebastian Vettel believes that Ferrari’s poor run of form will soon lead to trackside improvements, as the team target known ‘weak’ areas to turnaround their season.

After occupying the podium 3 times in the first 5 races, Ferrari appeared to be the main challengers for the Mercedes crown. Sebastian Vettel’s form has also took a turn for the worst lately, with his last podium finish coming during the European race in Baku.

The resurgent Red Bull team have taken over second spot in the constructors standings, and the in the drivers standings Sebastian now sits a lowly fifth.
Vettel is confident that Ferrari now understand what their weaknesses are, and where the focus for improvement should lie. However a quick fix to their problems may be asking too much, and the solutions to their weaknesses may not be shown on track until next season.

“The last couple of races have been harsh and tough for us, but very, very useful,” Vettel said. “I think we understood a lot about our car strength and weaknesses about our car, so we know what to focus on, so yeah it wasn’t entirely clear after the first couple of races but it became more and more evident, obviously it’s a harsh way to find out, not being competitive and not as competitive as we want to. 
“I think we know what to do, obviously it’s not going to change overnight but there’s a plan and I think the second half we should be stronger in that regard. It also depends on what other people do but for that we focus on ourselves.” 
Ferrari Were also dealt a blow when technical director James Allison left the team by mutual consent recently. Sebastian stopped short of pointing out exactly where Ferrari needs to focus, explaining the necessary gains need to come from all areas of the  SF16-H.

“I think it’s more of a general thing but these things take a bit of time,” he said. “Overall the most important is that we’re challenging ourselves and obviously you’re right, it would have been nicer to find out a bit sooner, but that’s how it is. 
“The main point is that we find out, we are always trying to improve, but the last races in this regard have been very educational to know potentially where our weaknesses compared to Red Bull and Mercedes.”

All eyes will be on the Maranello outfit when the track action returns to the legendary Spa-Franchorchamps circuit, for practice 1 on Friday 26th August.