Ferrari chasing a pre-Canadian GP fix for F1 traction problems
Ferrari boss Maurizio Arrivabene says next month's Canadian Grand Prix will be a particular "nightmare" for the Formula 1 team if it can't get on top of its traction problems
During the Spanish Grand Prix weekend, Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen were losing half a second to their Mercedes rivals in the tight third sector, where traction is key.
"If you look at the third sector, it's traction sector," said Arrivabene.
"If we are not able to solve the problem it can be worse not in Monaco - because in Monaco you have special settings - but in Canada.
"I don't want to go to Canada with the same problem of traction otherwise it will be a nightmare."
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Ferrari brought a revised bodywork package to Spain, with Vettel running the new update and Raikkonen "sacrificing" his result for the team by running the old spec.
But despite Vettel scoring his fourth podium in five races, the German finished 45 seconds adrift of winner Nico Rosberg - the biggest gap between Mercedes and Ferrari all season.
Arrivabene insisted the team's data was showing the update was a step forward, but conceded more work needed to be done to get the most out of it.
"If you compare to the car that Kimi was using, it was a step further," said Arrivabene. "But it is not enough to close the gap to Mercedes.
"We are not blind. In the last sector, we were losing half a second. I'm not escaping from the reality. It is there.
"We have an internal comparison and they are telling us the solution is good but the reality is telling us it is not good enough.
"The team needs to understand if it is related to this track or if it is really something we need to analyse in a very deep way.
"We need to find out how to improve the new package, but it is clear the new package is better than the old one.
"We will look at the numbers and make a decision. If we make a mistake, we will tell you."
Arrivabene added that while a title challenge was unlikely based on the current state of play, he still expected the team to meet a pre-season target of two wins.
"Being in the fight for the championship is a bit too much," he said.
"I still believe [the two win target] is achievable. But nothing in life you can achieve without working hard.
"I don't really care about being on the podium. If you look at the situation we had last year, now every race weekend we are on the podium. What I care about is the gap.
"If you want to win two or three races, you have to be there. At the moment, we are not."
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