Ferrari looking to take risks from Spa onwards

Vasseur's statement comes as he was previewing the final race of this F1 season before the summer break, and following another disappointing showing by the Scuderia in Hungary.

Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finished the race at the Hungaroring seventh and eighth respectively, the former receiving a five-second penalty for speeding in the pitlane while the team botched his first pit stop. Sainz started the race on the Softs from 11th, and made up places on the starts only to get stuck behind his teammate on a different strategy, the Red pit wall refusing to give team orders to release the Spaniard hence hampering his chances.

In addition to that, the Ferrari SF-23 doesn't seem to have the firepower of the McLarens and the Mercedes, despite an upgrade in Austria lifting Leclerc to the podium.

However, Vasseur believes there is potential in the Red single seater, and it is up to the team to extract it, he said: "At the last two races, we weren’t able to make the most of the SF-23s potential, because we adopted too cautious an approach, as well as making a few too many mistakes.

"Therefore, our goal for the Belgian Grand Prix, at one of Formula 1’s truly great venues, is to get back to the path we had embarked on in Canada," he pointed out. "Charles and Carlos are two of the best drivers on the grid, but we have to give them the right tools with which to express their talent.

"Behind Red Bull, it’s all extremely close with five teams battling it out to the nearest thousandths at every race. We therefore have to study every last detail of the weekend from Friday free practice to the last lap on Sunday, because one tenth of a second can mean a difference of one or two places," the Frenchman explained.

"We know what our technical weaknesses are and our rivals are not just killing time either. So, in Belgium and for the rest of the season, we must apply maximum concentration and be willing to take risks," Vasseur concluded.

Since the start of the 2023 F1 season, Ferrari has had only two podiums courtesy of Leclerc who delivered a third place in Baku in addition to his second place in Austria.

The Scuderia are fourth in the Constructors' Standings, 17 points behind Aston Martin.