Plenty for Ferrari to work on
under the closest scrutiny from the media, particularly in Italy”.
Brawn knows from experience as he was technical director at the Scuderia 1996-2006, with Michael Schumacher winning five world titles for them in the period.
The 2020 team is a far cry from that, and Brawn said it won’t be easy in this coronavirus-affected season.
“They aren’t going to turn it around overnight, and there’s a long road ahead of them. They need to find out if there is a fundamental problem with the car – and they need to find out fast – because clearly they are some way off the pace,” Brawn said.
Ferrari had initially hoped to make up at least some of the gap of around one second per lap on leaders Mercedes with the first part of the upgrades.
“We would really like to get the race on the line and some laps to see where the car is, but unfortunately, we will not get that,” team principal Mattia Binotto said.
But he remained defiant, saying: “We must just get on with our work. Difficult moments can bring out the best in people, and I’m sure that will be the case now.”
Leclerc admitted to his mistake and added: “It’s not easy for the whole team who worked hard to bring upgrades here. We are going through a difficult time and we don’t need this.”
Ferrari are setting their main hopes in the young Monegasque who so impressively finished ahead of Vettel in his debut season at the team in 2019 and then also somehow managed to finish second in the season-opener with the inferior car.
While Leclerc had his contract renewed until 2024, Vettel must leave after the season as he didn’t get a new deal after six years with the team where he failed to add to his four world titles won at Red Bull.
Any dream that he could go out with a title after all have effectively already ended, but the German remained diplomatic.
“I am generally optimistic, and at least I don’t have to wait long to be back in the car,” Vettel said.