Ferrari plays down Austria car upgrade

Ferrari says reports of a major car upgrade ahead of the resumption of racing in Austria next weekend were exaggerated.

Italian media in particular claimed that, compared to the Melbourne-spec car, the Red Bull Ring-specification 2020 Ferrari will have a slimmer nose, stiffer gearbox, new rear suspension and an engine with 30hp more.

But a team spokesman told Auto Motor und Sport: "We only have very small changes to the car.

"It was more important for us to understand the SF1000 better," he added. "We have made a good step forward."

The German report said the first major upgrade will hit the red car from Hungary - the third round of the initial ’corona calendar’.

Red Bull’s 2020 car, tested over 100km by Alex Albon at Silverstone on Thursday, has also been upgraded over the shutdown period.

Max Verstappen did not travel to Britain for the outing because of the country’s quarantine rules.

"We are bringing the upgrade to the car that was planned originally for Barcelona and a second one now for Spielberg," Dr Helmut Marko said.

"Everything is based on CFD and the wind tunnel, which adds a factor of uncertainty as we have the third stage of development now without knowing how the first and second one felt.

"But we had no way to test it so we have to assume that the data is correct," Marko added.