The countdown has begun. In less than two weeks the, F1 World Championship will begin in Australia. Ferrari are yet to reveal all their cards, and nobody knows exactly what to expect in the fight against McLaren.
Leclerc has been was extremely cautious in his predictions, whilst Hamilton did not complete his last race simulation. At the end of pre-season in Bahrain, the SF-25 did not completely convince spectators and insiders.
Once on track, the SF-25 showed a base with potential but with issues to address. In Maranello, they are talking about settings that need to be “calibrated”.
This means judgements on pure performance will be postponed until round one. Therefore, there are clear doubts about firepower of the SF-25.
“I would prefer to wait before going out on a limb to say whether the car is fast” – the words of a Charles Leclerc who is always very eloquent in expressing his feeling with the Prancing Horse car:
“We will only see in Melbourne where we are at. When we will have everything in the best conditions to try to extract the best from the car. During the tests we struggled a bit more in the balance.”
Red Bull is a bit disappointed by its own tests and sees Ferrari as the closest force to McLaren. This is a sign, according to Red Bull’s technical director – that the SF-25 has played hide and seek a bit more than the others.
McLaren took a risk with the MCL39 to dominate this year’s title. However, following testing, team papaya make clear “we don’t trust Ferrari at all”.
No Anomalies from Bahrain: Reports Analysed in Maranello Show No Lack of Correlation
The technicians are dedicating themselves to analysing the data produced during testing. Ferrari’s program in Bahrain was not at any time aimed at seeking real performance , except for small targeted flashes.
Fred Vasseur’s team put together a work program focused on understanding the SF-25’s new mechanical platform. More specifically, how it reacts to changes in setup and tire management. The car showed itself as expected, with a “more powerful” front even if still to be optimised due to an inverted pull rod suspension that requires greater knowledge at a mechanical level.
This aspect, however, also affected the braking behaviour, which more or less indirectly, changes.
Ferrari SF-24 vs SF-25 – Illustration Rosario Giuliana
However, Ferrari left Bahrain with some questions, and it will be necessary to see the car on track again to draw more definitive conclusions. There are still certain issues for the Scuderia outfit.
The team’s aerodynamic data from Bahrain, however, do not show a lack of correlation. From the information in AutoRacer’s possession, nothing abnormal was found with the work done in the tunnel during the winter.
An analysis that is comforting if you like, which confirms the statements of Team Principal Vassuer in Bahain:
“The numbers we found are the same as we expected”.
Hamilton and Leclerc engaged in three days of simulator testing to arrive in Australia with fewer unknowns. The rear end was limited by a mechanical setup that still needs to be centred.
Hamilton and Leclerc have provided two sides of the same coin. The SF-25 is “not slow”, but it still needs to be put on the right track, this was the first verdict that came from Sakhir. The rear that does not follow the front is a problem that for now in Maranello they are addressing only on the mechanical front.
The Italian single-seater was born having undergone important work of re-distribution of the axles, through the shortening of the gearbox. A non-trivial job and aimed at widening the setup and having a more forward-moving weight distribution. It is clear that such a radical change would necessarily shift the balances and references that the Prancing Horse technicians had the previous year.
In testing, Bahrain also offered a track that was far from ideal, especially not very representative of what we will see in the official weekend when F1 will stop there for the third round of the season:
“It is highly unlikely that similar weather will be found when the F1 world championship stops here again”.
Leclerc and Hamilton are currently in Maranello for a three-day simulator session, based on a program aimed at taking stock of the situation in view of Australia. The two Ferrari drivers will have a rather busy week because in addition to the work in the factory, they will also have ‘off-track’ work.
Yesterday evening, Leclerc and Hamilton, together with Vasseur, were present at the PUMA event. They will also be in attendance tomorrow at the team’s presentation in the square where they will also take to the track with two ‘dated’ Formula 1 cars, which should be the SF90 and the SF-21.
The SF-25 will actually be seen in two weeks on a track quite different from Bahrain, less limiting on the rear with the changes to the 2022 layout, which on the one hand can meet the needs of the red car in this first taste of the season.
Ferrari’s focus will be on putting the rear on the window without weakening the front, on a track that will also offer technical ideas in terms of the tyres and any front graining.
The aerodynamic set-up will not see any upheavals, however, the new generation rear wing with the more pronounced spoon is firmly at the centre of a macro-configuration that will often see it used on medium-load tracks.
The levels of vertical thrust at the rear will mostly be regulated by the use of more or less wide beam wings and dependent above all on the grip that the semi-permanent track of Albert Park will offer.
McLaren starts as the big favourite of this start of the season. Meanwhile, in Maranello, the first three races will act as a benchmark to definitively direct the development of the platform:
“We have opened a new door for development,” as Vasseur himself had made clear during the tests. Will it be enough?
