Enrico Gualtieri, head of the Ferrari power unit area, was recently interviewed by Corriere dello Sport as he discussed about the strength and key aspects of the Maranello team’s engine and the indescribable love of the fans for Ferrari:
“What Ferrari represents is a discovery that we make constantly and it always manages to surprise us: I am talking about the enthusiasm that reigns at the circuits, of the people who come here to Maranello to visit the museums or the factory, of noticing what Ferrari represents in the world. As engineers we feel a strong responsibility to honor tradition. Having said that, today Formula 1 requires perfection in every component and in every area, therefore everything must work in unison: it is like an orchestra, what wins is the harmony of the various instruments and the beauty of the whole orchestra”.
“It was difficult to predict something so beautiful after two races, which has been an important reward for all of us. Charles Leclerc against Max Verstappen? One wonders how two drivers can get to fight so tightly on the edge of the thousandths with such cars and engines so different. And their tension is also ours”.
On the Ferrari engine
“Engine 2 at Imola or Miami? I cannot answer at this point. The improvement in reliability, of which we are still understanding the limits, is continuous. As a group we had set ourselves a well-defined goal in terms of performance: we would only discover on track if that would have been enough and the picture is not yet fully defined. It takes a few races to confirm it. I like to think that the engine has a soul, as the founder Enzo Ferrari said. I prefer to imagine it as the concrete result of the contribution of every single person who worked on the project. An adjective to describe it? The “brave” chosen by Mattia Binotto for the entire car also characterizes the power unit as well; I am talking about both the macro components and the design choices. In particular it is important to listen: the engine always talks to you and you must be able to understand it and react with the appropriate interventions. Charles Leclerc’s joke in Bahrain? I was scared for a moment, but it was enough to watch the screens to immediately notice that everything was in order. Let’s say it made our joy even more explosive after the victory.”
On the new approach of Ferrari and the secret of the power unit
“We put the thermal efficiency at the center of the project, therefore the energy conversion efficiency from that introduced with the fuel to the mechanical one that reaches the crankshaft, because with the regulations in force this represents the first parameter on the overall performance. The contribution of our innovation partner Shell was invaluable in the process, also given the introduction of the new E10 fuel this year. We knew we had to catch up with the competition and then there is the long-term engine development freeze, introducing innovations, taking the programs to their limits and taking all the risks necessary to reach the targets we set ourselves “.
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On Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz
“I hope we can become a team that fights in all circumstances and with the right attitude, in all grand prix weekends. This year would be significant, we want to honor the history of the Scuderia on the 75th anniversary. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz are both very attentive and sensitive, they have great analytical skills and are very good at capturing and reporting their impressions to the engineers, in particular the ways of delivering power, driveability and the feedback on the individual changes we propose. This is truly precious to us”
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