F1: Ferrari would be 'crazy' to focus on 2017 now

Ferrari would be "crazy" to switch focus early to its 2017 car because it believes it is within striking distance of Mercedes this year, according to team principal Maurizio Arrivabene.

The team has scored a podium in seven out of the first eight races but failed to score a victory yet in 2016. With 2017's regulations presenting an opportunity for teams to change their place in the pecking order, some are starting to switch their development focus. But Arrivabene says Ferrari remains committed to making this year's car go faster.

"In this situation we have now, we have a gap from Mercedes but we are not that far from them," he said. "It is crazy to talk about next year, we need to focus on this year.

"We focus our attention on the areas where we have weaknesses and try to improve. That is what we are going to do."

Ferrari has spent 28 of its engine development tokens, leaving it with four remaining for the season. Arrivabene is pleased with the team's progress on the engine side but highlighted it needs to get on top of setup problems.

"As we had seen already in Canada, the engine seems to be our strength," he said. "We still need to work on the other areas, because this car has proven to be very sensitive to set-up changes.

"The race pace was good – we were working a lot during the Baku weekend and it was better. It is not good yet, but this is my only concern because if I have to talk about what I saw from the drivers in Baku it was spectacular, from both of them. The car needs to be improved still."

Originally on Autosport.com