Ferrari has lost a second per lap on the Red Bull Ring asphalt in one year, with stable regulations. If the classification of last Saturday is compared with that of the 2019 Austrian GP, all manufacturers reduce their times except those that mount the Maranello power unit, which are Haas and Alfa Romeo apart from the official team. There is little point in showing up on a single-seater circuit that makes its predecessor noticeably worse when, with the rules in hand, the old SF90H could continue to race in Spielberg. The crash of the Italian house is worrying and points to questions of the factory, sports and non-sports, some of them classified in a private agreement with the FIA.
The engineers proposed for this campaign a complete redesign of the engine, now narrower, and a change of concept on the car that allowed to generate more downforce and improve cornering by sacrificing top speed, with a turn of 180 degrees with respect to what they had twelve months ago. But in the Barcelona tests they were disappointed and, with the factory closed during the coronavirus crisis, there has been no time to review those data and project developments in a hurry. The first package was brought forward to the Styrian GP with a new spoiler, and there will be further improvements in Hungary.
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Gains and losses of each team between the Austrian classification of 2019 and 2020.
Three tenths of aerodynamics and seven of power
According to Mattia Binotto, director of the team, compared to Mercedes they lose "three tenths due to the aerodynamics and seven due to the power limit". And although in F1 there is talk of improvements, those that can come in the short term will only serve to correct the aero deficit. "We are talking about those three tenths of the corners. We are working to get them to the track as soon as possible, but there will be no magic solutions," says the Swiss engineer.
The other variable is much more worrying, the seven tenths that have disappeared "on the straights, which will be the most difficult to recover because the engines are frozen during the season" and will hardly be able to increase performance, only introducing slight reliability improvements that, in the case of Ferrari is not a problem. Within this loss, "one part corresponds to the 'drag' (air resistance) and another, to the motor", and it is not among the priority tasks to correct now the air resistance that the SF1000 poses, because it would imply entering fully into the Designing the entire car with no time for miracles: "It is something that we will not solve soon. It has been disappointing to see what our speed is on the straights, but we must analyze the data for the next few days." In the table of maximum speeds of the last grand prize, the two Ferrari were last (Leclerc, 312.4 km / h) and third by the tail (Vettel, 313.2 km / h), very far from Hamilton's Mercedes (322 , 5 km / h). A year ago, Leclerc scored 325.7 km / h and took pole. Repeating its 2019 time, the Monegasque would have come third on Sunday.
The blissful private agreement with the FIA
During the winter, Ferrari and the FIA reached a private agreement to resolve the investigation into their engines, started the previous year. Top teams suspected that the full throttle modes of the Italian propeller, those that tend to be used on Saturday to get the best performance from a lap, were involved in illegalities related to the maximum flow of fuel and oil consumption.
The latest 2019 technical directives narrowed down those practices and coincided with a step back from red cars in Austin, Brazil and Abu Dhabi. Since then, the little that has been revealed about the content of the agreement is that according to Jean Todt, president of the FIA, "they suspected that there were illegalities that could not be demonstrated", and according to Binotto "there were no illegalities because, otherwise , they would have been sanctioned. " Beyond the debate, the only reality is that the Italian engine has been left on the road for about half a second with the revision of its design and more than 10 kilometers per hour of top speed. Perhaps they had practices that were not prohibited then, but they were based on technical reports. But now Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel cannot fight for poles and victories as in 2019 and there is much work ahead in Maranello so that the car that Carlos Sainz will inherit is competitive in the short term, because in a few months the chassis will be frozen to reduce costs in 2021.
Alfa Romeo and Haas, sunk
The superlative Ferrari engine that left many in the paddock gaping a few months ago is now stumped, but for other reasons. They also suffer in Alfa Romeo and Haas, two humble teams. "There is an apparent lack of speed and all the cars powered by Ferrari are slower than in 2019. It can be said openly," said Guenther Steiner, head of the North American team. Meanwhile, Fred Vasseur, head of Alfa Romeo: "I am confident that Ferrari will recover. The deficit is more important in the classification." From above, Mercedes does not make blood. Toto Wolff: "I want to beat Ferrari at the same level." But he leaves messages: "I encourage Ferrari, not Binotto."
