After a trio of difficult races for Ferrari, the Hungarian GP will provide new opportunities to make progress with the new aerodynamic package on a very different track to those seen in the last month of action. Carlos Sainz spoke about his expectations for the weekend and for the rest of the season, where Frederic Vasseur’s team aims to return to competing for the top positions as happened in the first three months of the season.
Corrections to the Barcelona-spec floor and mechanical changes at Spa will be the first answers to the recent problems. At the same time, further performance will be added with a new aerodynamic package after the summer break.
SAINZ: “THE SIMULATIONS HAD PREDICTED THE AERODYNAMIC BOUNCE, NOW THEY PREDICT LESS OF IT”
At Silverstone, Ferrari sacrificed the entire day of Friday to work on the comparison between the two specifications – Imola and Barcelona – in a job that did not put the performance in England in the foreground but aimed at improving in the medium and long term:
“Not having your teammate as a reference in FP1 and FP2 to optimize the car and the performance of the car was done to potentially become quicker in five, six races, when we can learn what we can apply from Silverstone in the wind tunnel and apply it for the future.”
Sainz confirmed what Frédéric Vasseur announced yesterday regarding the corrections to the Barcelona-spec floor:
“We already have a small update for Hungary that we hope will improve things.”
The Australian GP winner revealed that simulations in Maranello had predicted the increased bouncing:
“The team warned us that the new floor might produce more bounce and that is what our simulations suggested. Our simulations suggest that with our updates, the bouncing should be less.”
In the first part of the season, Carlos Sainz had already complained about the ‘bouncing’:
“Was it necessary to run into the bouncing and solve these issues to unlock further steps of performance? I have my theory, of course. I was already complaining about the bouncing before the updates.”
Monte Carlo was the last race win for Ferrari, and their last competitive weekend. Still, the Hungaroring can no longer be defined as “Monaco without the barriers” as it was a few years ago:
“The way the cars are made today, Hungary has become a medium-speed circuit. In the middle sector, we go at 140, 160 and even 200 km/h. Here, it is a super flat surface, and everything depends on the aerodynamic platform of the car rather than on mechanical grip.”
SAINZ: “CONSISTENTLY FIGHTING FOR VICTORIES WILL REQUIRE ANOTHER TWO OR THREE-TENTHS”
The chances of catching up with the top three teams, especially McLaren, will depend on the upgrade package scheduled for Singapore:
“At the moment, we are two or three-tenths away from fighting for the wins, but I think we can improve the car by two or three-tenths between now and the next six or seven races.”
However, finding this time in today’s Formula One is not easy, and the last month has shown it:
“Two or three-tenths is not a lot, but these days, it is so difficult to find for every team. That is why all the teams in the paddock are struggling to find this performance and to find the right compromise.”
