Ferrari stacking up 2016 data for regulation changes
Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene says with any F1 world titles out of reach his squad is focusing on only adding parts which will benefit its preparation for 2017 ahead of the regulation revamp.
The Italian manufacturer once again looked the third best team in terms of one lap performance and race pace with both Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen out-qualified by Mercedes and Red Bull.
During the race Vettel was unable to challenge either Mercedes or Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo and had to settle for fourth place which extended Ferrari's podium drought to four races, while the team's solitary rostrum - Vettel's third place at Monza - counts as its only top three finish in the last nine races.
READ: Who said that? Guess who said what at the United States GP
With a 56-point deficit to Red Bull in the battle for second place in the F1 world constructors' championship, Arrivabene conceded Ferrari's charge for 2016 honours is effectively over and any updates or set-up thoughts are focused on collecting relevant data which can be transferred to 2017 for the regulation revamp.
"Obviously we knew that this track [Circuit of the Americas] is not really preferable for us," Arrivabene said. "But you have to look at the overall situation: if you want to solve problems this year you are losing time for next year.
"This is why we have been concentrating on high-performance circuits like Suzuka - as in this case you take parts that give you data for next year. At this stage of the championship anything else would not make any sense."
After enjoying a resurgence in 2015 with three wins as Sebastian Vettel joined the Scuderia, Ferrari has seen its momentum stall with Red Bull returning to the sharp end as main challengers to the dominant Mercedes.
Latest Tweets from Crash.net & GPF1rst
