In 2020, Ferrari had its worst F1 season in 40 years, finishing sixth in the constructors’ standings with just three podium finishes.
The team struggled with a slow car design and a lack of straight-line speed, which it attempted to address with the revised SF21 car for this season.
Charles Leclerc qualified for the first two races in fourth place, which has been a success so far. At Imola two weeks ago, Leclerc came in fourth, ahead of home teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. in fifth.
It has put Ferrari in the lead of the battle for the midfield, fighting head-to-head with McLaren, and demonstrated that the team is improving again following last year’s setbacks.
The team’s development effort was correlated between the factory and the track, which helped the team’s performance move in the right direction, as team principal Binotto noted.
The relief, according to Binotto, lies in realizing that we are moving in the right directions.
“It is crucial to note that simulations and wind tunnel work now correlate at the track more accurately than they did in the past.
“This inspires faith in the tools and our ability to design for the future. That, in my opinion, was the most crucial item, so it is certainly a relief in that regard.
“It’s crucial that the car is performing better so that we can finish the racing weekend with a better result.
“We frequently stated that our performance from the previous year was unacceptable for a Ferrari brand, so we were aware that these areas were crucial to us, demonstrating advancements in each one.
In the teams’ standings, McLaren presently leads Ferrari by seven points as a result of Lando Norris’s podium finish at Imola, which he achieved after overtaking Leclerc on the restart following the red light.
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Laurent Mekies, a Ferrari engineer, has stated that the team’s development of the 2021 car is now almost complete, with focus focused totally on the new age of F1 when it dawns in 2022. However, he adds that this does not imply they have stopped working on the SF21’s shortcomings.
This season, the million-dollar issue is: When should teams start thinking about next year’s car, when the significant set of rule changes take effect? However, other teams, like Ferrari, have had to balance development on this year’s car with that of next year’s machine. For Haas, the solution was to focus immediately on next year’s rules at the expense of this season.
Mekies, a Ferrari Racing Director and Head of Track Area, explained that the Scuderia has made the switch and is not continuing to develop this year’s car at Paul Ricard in advance of this weekend’s French Grand Prix.
“From an automotive development standpoint, we have already taken our selections,” he declared. There won’t be a significant upgrade to address these issues [on the SF21] until 2022 at the earliest.
The Frenchman clarified that Ferrari will continue to work on understanding the problems with the SF21 even though they are not evolving it in the conventional sense of frequently producing new parts.
But you can always work on [the problems] by simply understanding them better, and if you understand them better an either because you correlate them better or you simply understand what are the reasons why we are performing a little less in those circumstances an it can open the door to solutions that you can already apply.
And because of this, coming here after a few races in which we experienced a lot of slow-speed bends is still a nice test for us. We want to assess how we improved and whether we gained any new knowledge. And this is the strategy we’re using to fight this weekend.
In the standings heading into the French Grand Prix, Ferrari is only two points ahead of McLaren, but their drivers are anticipating a return to “reality” following surprise pole positions for Charles Leclerc in Monaco and Baku, as well as a podium finish for Carlos Sainz in the Principality.
Why are F1 Ferrari cars so quick?
Calm down, please. Prior to Sunday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto is channeling his inner Scouser and downplaying the team’s impressive start to the season.
A health warning is issued to a team when managing success and failure since both elicit strong emotional reactions.
In the years before, Binotto had gotten more experienced in the latter. Though it is of the loud sort, his instinct to modulate the response to what is ultimately only one result is smart. He explained that Jeddah “may be a completely different scenario and I think we need to wait at least four or five races to assess.”
The Bahraini track is noticeably rough, which exacerbates the heavy strain on the brakes and tires already put under duress by the unique features of the Sakhir circuit. Despite having the superior top speed, the Red Bull’s brakes and tires overheated, forcing Max Verstappen to slow down.
In contrast, the Ferrari had faster acceleration out of the turns, demonstrating the strength and torque of an engine that is regarded as the grid’s top performer. Binotto is a product of the Ferrari engine division. Ferrari was able to concentrate on the construction of the 2022 unit significantly earlier because they were not involved in a title race last year. Some claim Ferrari had an advantage over Mercedes and Red Bull by three months.
The end result is a power unit that completely different from the one that debuted in the previous season and works well with the new, environmentally friendly gasoline adopted this season. Some people think that the modifications that engine designers must make to accommodate fuel with 10% ethanol, which operates at higher temperatures, are just as dramatic as the switch to ground force aerodynamics. Ferrari appeared to have perfected both the engine and the aerodynamic components, avoiding any of the porpoising stress that is the cause of Mercedes’s tardy start.
Engine constraints that have halted development for the next four years, essentially baking in any potential power advantage, have helped Ferrari even more. Gasoline pump problems caused by the new fuel have been blamed for the power failures that struck both Red Bull vehicles in Bahrain.
Due to a shortage of development time, it is believed that Red Bull lacked insufficient understanding of the power unit’s behavior on low fuel. Red Bull had not planned for the pump issue in relation to the new fuel characteristics at the end of a long stint because comprehensive race simulations had not been done during preseason testing.
Fundamentally speaking, the Red Bull is quicker than the Ferrari in Bahrain through the speed trap. This is not to imply that Ferrari is inherently slower; rather, Sakhir’s setup decisions favored acceleration above peak speed. Leclerc’s ability to overtake Verstappen into turn four in Bahrain after momentarily giving up the lead through turn one on successive laps demonstrated the effectiveness of that way of thinking.
The performance of these prototype animals is influenced by a wide range of variables. Depending on the circuit, the needs can vary. In Bahrain, Ferrari hit the perfect spot. Red Bull tripped over the carefully calibrated stress points.
Binotto is therefore correct to reserve judgment until the vehicles have been tested on a variety of courses and layouts. However, it’s possible that Ferrari was operating in a more conservative mode and had more power to release. Thus, Binotto’s modesty might be hiding a true statement that is constructive rather than destructive. Jeddah will provide additional information, either way.
Ferrari was quite sluggish, why?
Ferrari discovered in 2020 that they were outclassed in terms of engine power and aerodynamics. From a ding-dong fight to a walkover, they had transitioned. At the US Grand Prix last year, the crucial time had occurred. The FIA published a technical directive banning specific fuel flow levels, which are rigorously regulated.
Why is the Mercedes F1 so sluggish?
The bouncing has severely harmed the car, which is the main reason Mercedes is having trouble in the 2017 F1 season.
After decades gone, ground effect is now permitted in Formula One as part of the new technical regulations.
In order to generate downforce, you essentially want to run your car as close to the track as you can.
The Mercedes’ ride height does, however, drop as it gains downforce at high speed.
The cycle then repeats itself as the car drops once more as it gains downforce.
- Lewis Hamilton must now have a Sebastian Vettel season if he wants to win his eighth world championship in 2022.
In testing, it has had an impact on the majority of the teams, although Mercedes is having more difficulty with the W13 than others.
How come my F1 car is so slow?
Final Reflections. Because of the sophisticated cameras used by Formula 1, Formula 1 cars appear to be slow on television. The camera operators use wide angles and pan their cameras to monitor the passage of the cars, giving the illusion that they are moving much more slowly than they actually are. This results in a smooth and clear image.
Is Formula One sluggish?
The upcoming 2022 Formula 1 season will include the debut of new automotive technology. Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, and the new F1 car are generating growing excitement among fans.
Will F1 cars be faster in 2022?
The cars of 2022 may be faster in rapid curves but slower in slow ones as a result. Given the concentration of slow and medium speed turns on the Sakhir circuit from 2021 to 2022, the overall lap time differential will depend on the track configuration.
The Mercedes F1 is jumping a lot, why?
“What is occurring now is that the car is lower, as a result of resolving the initial issue, but now hitting the surface rather hard, and that’s generating the bouncing that you see at the moment,” said Vowles.
F1 pays Ferrari, right?
For participating in the championship, each team receives about $36 million USD in prize money, which comes from sources of income like TV rights and circuit sponsorship.
Payments are also made based on how teams place in the Constructors Championship. Mercedes won $61 million USD for winning the championship in 2021, compared to Williams, who finished last, who only received $13 million USD.
Ferrari, the only team to earn this payout, received an additional $68 million USD solely for being a long-standing team.
For their prior efforts in the championship, McLaren, Red Bull, Mercedes, and Ferrari each received a “Constructors Championship Bonus” of $35 million USD.
Red Bull received $36 million USD for being the first team to sign the most recent Concord Agreement, and Williams received $10 million USD as a “legacy payment.”