Maurizio Arrivabene says Ferrari will not abandon development of its 2016 car in order to shift its main focus to 2017's regulation changes.
All teams are working on the development of their 2017 cars under next year's revised technical regulations, but the extent to which focus has shifted away from 2016 varies. Updates are expected to be few and far between in the second half of the season, but Arrivabene said Ferrari will not give up on developing the SF16-H after closing the gap to championship leaders Mercedes at recent rounds.
"I think in this situation we have now, we have a gap from Mercedes but we are not that far from Mercedes," he said. "It is crazy to talk about next year, we need to focus on this year, focus our attention on the areas where we have weaknesses and try to improve. That is what we are going to do." Asked what the strength of the current Ferrari is, Arrivabene said: "The engine."
He believes "a bit of chassis and a bit of aero" work is needed to beat Mercedes and he believes it is possible this year.
"If I am not thinking of working in this area then I am not doing my job," he added.