Sebastian Vettel says the last two races have provided Ferrari with a "harsh" awakening as it has uncovered more problems with its car.
Ferrari has not finished on the podium since the Austrian Grand Prix four rounds ago and in Germany it slipped behind Red Bull in the constructors' championship. The Italian team saw the Hungarian and German Grands Prix as an opportunity to challenge Mercedes ahead of the summer break, but at both races it ended up as the third best team behind Red Bull.
Vettel says the disappointing performances laid bare some of Ferrari's weaknesses, but he is confident his team can address those issues in the second half of the season.
"I think the last couple of races have been harsh and tough for us, but very, very useful," he said. "I think we understood a lot about our car strength and weaknesses about our car, so we know what to focus on, so yeah it wasn't entirely clear after the first couple of races but it became more and more evident, obviously it's a harsh way to find out, not being competitive and not as competitive as we want to.
"I think we know what to do, obviously it's not going to change overnight but there's a plan and I think the second half we should be stronger in that regard. It also depends on what other people do but for that we focus on ourselves."
Pushed on the details of the SF16-H's weaknesses, Vettel said: "I think it's more of a general thing but I don't want to go into too much detail, I know you're very interested! Some things do take a little bit of time but overall the most important is that we're challenging ourselves and obviously you're right, it would have been nicer to find out a bit sooner, but that's how it is.
"The main point is that we find out, we are always trying to improve, but the last races in this regard have been very educational to know potentially where our weaknesses compared to Red Bull and Mercedes."