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Ferrari is not expecting to bring a raft of upgrades to next weekend’s Formula 1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Imola.
The fourth round of the season brings with it the first Sprint Qualifying round of the season, leaving teams with just a single 60-minute practice session prior to qualifying on Friday afternoon.
Though a second practice on Saturday morning follows, cars are by then in parc ferme, leaving precious little time to evaluate and optimise any new development parts.
“I think it could be a difficult weekend in the respect of bringing updates and trying to evaluate them on the Friday practice, because you need to focus yourself on the quali in the afternoon,” said Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto.
“If we look at our ourselves, they will not be much in Imola because, again, we believe it will not be the right place.”
Ferrari leads the constructors’ championship, Charles Leclerc having won two of the opening three races of the year.
The only time one of the Scuderia’s cars has not appeared on the podium was last weekend’s Australian Grand Prix, when Carlos Sainz spun off on the second lap.
Throughout the weekend, the squad enjoyed a pace advantage over its nearest rivals, Red Bull, a gap that was accentuated during the race.
However, the car is still far from perfected, with porpoising obvious both on the Walker Straight in Albert Park, and on the blast down Lakeside Drive.
“We try to mitigate the, let me say, the issues we’ve got still so far,” Binotto admitted.
“I’m thinking the porpoising, the bouncing, that has affected our performance over the weekend.
“So we again, try to work on that specific point, but for the upgrades, and more significant ones, it will be for later on in the season.”
Ferrari has a comfortable advantage at the top of the constructors’ championship, 39 points clear of Mercedes in second best.
The Anglo-German squad has for the most part been only the third fastest team, in 2022, though has scored points with both cars in all three races, including podiums for Lewis Hamilton in Bahrain and George Russell in Australia.
The season continues next weekend with the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix before it then heads across the Atlantic to the inaugural Miami Grand Prix on May 6-8.
