Scuderia Ferrari will introduce the first major update package at the F1 Spanish Grand Prix to fill the “0.2 seconds” earned by car development by rival Red Bull Racing in 2022.
After five races in the 2022 F1 season, Scuderia Ferrari leads both the driver and constructor championships, but for the first time this season has lost two consecutive losses to Red Bull Racing.
Max Verstappen won the Emilia Romagna and Miami GPs, reducing Charles Leclerc’s championship lead to 19 points and Scuderia Ferrari’s advantage in the Constructors’ Championship with only 6 points.
So far, Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Ferrari have taken distinctly different development approaches.
Scuderia Ferrari hasn’t changed much since it introduced the new floor in the pre-season test. Red Bull has since introduced aerodynamic and lighter upgrades since the introduction of new side pods and new floors in its second test.
Red Bull Racing’s early development rates are probably unsustainable given the budget caps claimed by Scuderia Ferrari, but team representative Mattia Binotto nevertheless said, “To keep pace, I’ll take myself. We need to develop and implement upgrades. “
It will be launched at the Spanish Grand Prix this weekend. So Scudelli Ferrari reduces popping and brings a substantial upgrade, including a new floor to help the F1-75 run at lower ride heights.
“By introducing the upgrade in the next race, it will be at least our turn to try to develop as many cars as possible,” said Mattia Binotto.
“I don’t think it’s surprising that a package that is important to us will be launched in Barcelona.”
“As always, I hope the packages we deploy are working as expected to fill the current gap with Red Bull.”
The initial specs of the F1-75 were enough to compete for pole position in all races, but it’s an important time for Scuderia Ferrari as it lags behind the lighter and upgraded RB18 with race trim.
Mattia Binotto believes Red Bull Racing “reached us 0.2 seconds per lap” thanks to the upgrades introduced at Imola.
Scuderia Ferrari abandoned plans to use the rear wing of the road rack in Miami due to the challenge of adapting to the new road surface and ran with more downforce than expected.
This exaggerated the lack of normal linear speed for Red Bull Racing by Scuderia Ferrari, but did not improve the cornering performance expected. At least not at the lowest speeds Scuderia Ferrari had previously favored.
“Red Bull was very good at that. With medium tires we were able to run as fast as we were in very slow corners,” Mattia Binotto said after the race.
“The reason needs to be evaluated and understood.”
“And, in fact, I believe they have an upgrade that simply made their car faster in the last race.”
Charles Leclerc, who won pole position in Miami, finished second behind Max Verstappen after passing early in the first stint. I could only challenge Red Bull Racing by restarting the safety car at the end of r-S.
Charles Leclerc argues that there is “no concern” about the loss of early point advantage in the last two races, but said it is important for Scuderia Ferrari to respond.
“Of course, they are improving,” said Charles Leclerc.
“I think we all expected them to improve. They are a very strong team and we are aware of this, so that’s not a surprise.”
“But I’m confident in my team and I’m sure there will be an upgrade that will bring us back to the top.”
“I hope so, but we’re working well and have done a very good job of getting back to the top for the past few years.”
“I hope those upgrades will help us challenge them again.”
Category: Category: F1 / Ferrari / F1 Spanish GP