Ferrari 'on right track' despite Canada setback

With the Maranello-based team having used up some of its engine development tokens to improve the power unit in Montreal, it was targeting a proper fight against Mercedes.

But its ultimate potential was erased by a reliability problem for Vettel in qualifying and then a spin for Raikkonen in the race.

However, despite the failure to finish on the podium, both drivers think that the team needs more time to fully understand how much of a step has been made.

Vettel said: "From our side everything worked as expected. Surely you cannot expect miracles. Look at the gap.

"In pre-season it was huge and since then I think we were able to close some races more, some races less – so it is not that easy.

"They are not idiots and they are trying to make as much progress as possible. So if you close the gap it means you have to make more progress, which is not so easy.

"But so far, I think we are on the right track and things are going in the right way so we are pushing very hard."

Form will fluctuate

Raikkonen thinks that the extent of Ferrari's progress was hidden by Canada's track characteristics, which makes him upbeat of a different situation at the next few races.

"We were hoping for a better result and better speed against them, but I think this circuit really is going to show you the difference if you are lacking in something," he said.

"I am sure the upgrades that we did were good. They work as expected and we still have to work hard and improve things overall.

"But I am sure when we go to more normal circuits we should be stronger. We know where the differences are, we were hoping to be a bit more close fight and a better result."