Ferrari is hoping a combination of new developments and lessons from the past will help salvage its faltering 2025 Formula 1 campaign.
Team principal Frederic Vasseur left Imola somewhat encouraged by race pace, but admitted ongoing issues with the car's qualifying performance remain a major concern.
It's a situation that has left Charles Leclerc struggling to find optimism ahead of his home race in Monaco.
"I am not optimistic," he told Corriere dello Sport. "We are going to a track that will expose us to our weaknesses.
"Of course there is always unpredictability and the setups are different from those for any other circuit, so we hope to surprise ourselves as we did at Imola in the race."
Lewis Hamilton, too, offered a measured take: "We have a car that is good in the fast corners, ok in the medium speed ones, and maybe it is not as strong as the others on the slow corners."
Corriere della Sera correspondent Daniele Sparisci was more blunt: "The comeback at Imola does not cover the problems — Ferrari cannot fight for this world championship but it cannot give up on the season at this point either.
"Without developments, it risks ending up behind Williams."
Also according to the Italian media, Ferrari is working around the clock to address what many now believe is the car's fundamental flaw — the rear suspension.
"The new rear suspension has passed dynamic test benching and is being tested in the wind tunnel with different aerodynamics," Corriere della Sera reported.
The part is not expected to be introduced until the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
Meanwhile, Vasseur is hopeful the updated front wing regulations for Barcelona will bring some improvement.
For Monaco, Ferrari will reportedly revert to the 2024-spec rear wing used at last year's event.
Amid mounting scrutiny, some of the pressure is now falling on Ferrari's new technical director Loic Serra, who joined the team late in 2024. But Vasseur was quick to defend him.
"When Loic arrived six months ago," Vasseur said, "the current car was already — let's say — 90 percent defined."
Serra replaced Enrico Cardile, who has since moved to Aston Martin.
"We made mistakes with the car," Vasseur admitted. "We need to do better, but the motivation is there and the mindset is there too."
In another setback, Corriere dello Sport reports that Ferrari has failed in its attempt to lure McLaren's respected aerodynamics boss and chief of staff, Giuseppe 'Pino' Pesce, to Maranello.
