AMuS reports on Ferrari - Red Bull balance of power, Miami upgrades and F1 Commission meeting

Respected AMuS reporter Michael Schmidt discussed some of the most important matters on the F1 Commission meeting agenda this week and also pointed out some key aspects regarding Scuderia Ferrari’s title battle with Red Bull. Here is a summary from the Auto, Motor und Sport episode after the 2022 Emilia Romagna GP at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari:

in Melbourne, Scuderia Ferrari had the advantage that they still had since the beginning of the season. But with the Imola upgrade and the significant weight reduction of the RB18, Michael Schmidt thinks that Red Bull has a slight advantage now. Mattia Binotto told Martin Schmidt that Ferrari also need to fix the issue with the bouncing and explained that every change before completely understanding the issue (even though it doesn’t cost Ferrari too much lap time) could go in the wrong direction.
Red Bull is in a different position here. They don’t have the bouncing issue, and with the knowledge of not having it, they can develop the car more freely. Schmidt believes that the balance of power can shift between Ferrari and Red Bull from race to race.
But Ferrari’s general concept with the F1-75 is based on having more downforce, because they believe it helps the tyres and gives them more lap time. But in some circuits it is a disadvantage, because you can’t protect yourself (see Imola).
It seems that McLaren did not understand their car in the first race (also due to their problems in testing), they talked the car worse than it actually was. It’s not the best car and still around 7 tenths behind Red Bull / Ferrari but it’s not as bad as it seemed in Bahrain.
One thing that Schmidt mentioned is that the Imola upgrade was already the second aero upgrade from Red Bull, while Ferrari is basically still racing with their base car. So Ferrari still have something more up their sleeves at some point.
Alfa Romeo brought a big upgrade to Imola, which worked well right from the start. Valtteri Bottas had a 11s pit stop because a wheel nut was jammed, without that he would have been P4. Some in the team even said P3. Bottas was on par with Red Bull / Ferrari on the medium tyres during the race. The Alfa Romeo car is working well, Bottas understands the tyres well. He does a good job there which helps the team a lot.
Alpine’s big problem is the race. They have massive problems keeping the front tyres alive (graining). That was the case in Bahrain, Melbourne and now in Imola. The engineers say that Fernando Alonso understands the tyres, so it’s not a driver fault.
Martin Schmidt explained that the new Pirelli rear tyres are really good but the front tyres are a bit like the previous year. It is difficult to control them, difficult to get them under temperatures. And when you get the front tyres under temperature, they get too hot and graining starts, which is what happened to Charles Leclerc in the Imola Sprint race.

Formula 1 Commission meeting agenda this week:

the sprint races will be discussed, the drivers want another format regarding the media duties.
they want less press conferences because they have media duties on Thursday and then even more media duties on Friday this season.
Martin Schmidt said that the drivers also wanted the F1 Commission to think about whether races in countries like Saudi Arabia or wherever else are really necessary.
Stefano Domenicali and Ross Brawn think that they can get the new engine regulations done by June. They have to get it done by then, to also give some clarity to Volkswagen, which is open to entering Formula One with its brands Porsche and Audi

About the Miami Grand Prix:

the new asphalt could bring surprises
there are two long straights which is good for Red Bull and their top speed.
Mattia Binotto told Martin Schmidt that Ferrari will bring a new medium downforce package (wings), but the Maranello team won’t bring anything big to Miami [upgrade wise]. Ferrari want to get on top of the bouncing issue and improve the car for the medium/low downforce level there. But maybe that will be the step to get ahead again.