Ferrari are looking forward to a better weekend in Bahrain, confident that “corrections we have made” will be evident.
While the Scuderia set the pace in pre-season testing, they stumbled at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
Lacking balance and taking a wrong turn with the set-up of the SF90, Sebastian Vettel finished a disappointing P4, some 57s down on race winner Valtteri Bottas.
His team-mate Charles Leclerc was fifth on his Ferrari debut.
However, Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto is confident Australia will be a once-off blip.
Previewing the upcoming Bahrain GP, he said: “The Bahrain Grand Prix is the second round of what will be a very long and demanding season.
“The Sakhir circuit has very different characteristics to the Australian one, with traction and braking being key factors.
“In Bahrain, as a team, we will have to ensure that we have understood and rectified the areas where we were weak in Australia, which therefore meant we were unable to fully exploit our car’s potential.
“In Bahrain, we expect to see the effect of the corrections we have made, although we are well aware that our competitors will once again be very strong.
“With that in mind, we are keen to get back on track and face up to them.”
Vettel heads to Bahrain chasing a third successive victory in the desert, which would bring his overall tally to five.
The German, though, concedes the night race brings with it its own trials.
“It is hard to find the right rhythm in the desert, mainly because of the sand that the wind blows onto the track,” he said.
“Therefore every lap is different, which can be a decisive factor, especially in qualifying.
“If you move just a few inches off the ideal line, you start to slide and you can throw your lap in the bin, because you just can’t make up the time you lose at this point.
“Therefore, the rate of mistakes is significantly higher than at other circuits.”
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