Ferrari: A 147 lap Friday... [Seriously!]

Both their drivers - Charles Leclerc and Carls Sainz - were slower, in both sessions than Antonio Giovinazzi in the similarly powered Alfa Romeo.

Perhaps it is still early in the weekend to read to much into their times, but knowing their lads if they had it they would have flaunted it on the day.

The hard fact for Ferrari, after the first day, at Red Bull Ring is that Sainz's best effort was almost three-quarters of a second shy of Max Verstappen's top time on the four km track, a huge gap and his time only good for 11th. Leclerc, in 13th, was a tenth and a bit slower than his teammate.

Adding insult to injury was the fact that Giovinazzi, in the Ferrari customer Alfa Romeo, was quicker than the works pair, suggesting that the Reds are sandbagging or in serious trouble, the latter more likely in the wake of their woeful zero points haul last Sunday in France.

The performance of their team is hardly doing the Scuderia's media office any favours and creative excuses are clearly exhausted when they headline today's press release: "A 147 lap Friday" and then really had little else of substance to say about the below-par performance.

Sainz too did not make mention of the disappearing pace in his report: "It was an intense Friday. In the morning, we tried various setups to find the best direction to follow regarding the tyres. Our main aim in both of today’s sessions was to understand the behaviour of the various compounds.

"Tomorrow we will concentrate more on enhancing the car’s performance on flying laps with the aim of qualifying well, but it will not be easy. Our race pace was not bad, but we are cautious and we will continue to analyse all the information and data gathered today."

In the same report, Leclerc claimed: "We learned a lot today, having tried many solutions. Our long-run pace seems quite competitive compared to our closest rivals. Where we did struggle a bit was with our qualifying pace, which it is not usually the case, so we will have to concentrate on this tonight and tomorrow.

"It’s hard to say if we have found the way to get the tyres to work at their best but we look in better shape when compared to the previous race. There’s still a question mark over the weather, as it could rain and also be cooler and that could make the situation even more complicated," added Leclerc.

The truth is that rain may well play in their favour, as at least their drivers can then step up to the plate and make something of the increasingly woeful Ferrari SF21, as the wet tends to level the playing field.

Meanwhile, all indications are this is yet another Maranello creation that will continue to break Tifosi hearts for the foreseeable future, continuing tomorrow when a red car in Q3 looks like a big ask on today's evidence.