The qualifying session seen at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps have left experts, including the drivers, surprised by the gap that Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has put between himself and to his direct opponents. According to a rumor reported by f1ingenerale.com directly from the paddock, Scuderia Ferrari would have lost performance in the fast corners due to the new technical directive, introduced starting with the Belgian Grand Prix this weekend.
Highest gap of the season
During the 2022 Formula 1 season there had not yet been such a big gap in qualifying between Red Bull and Ferrari. On the straight, Max Verstappen, without slipstream, had 10 km / h more top speed against the Ferrari cars. Furthermore, even the gaps in the corners show a Red Bull in clear advantage, with more than 3 tenths gained. These data become evident as soon as the telemetry is analyzed, with Max Verstappen (almost) always faster than Carlos Sainz in the corners of the Belgian track.
The new technical directive was introduced with the aim of reducing the vertical oscillations of the cars and preventing some teams from exploiting the flexibility of the floor. Among these there was Ferrari (and also Red Bull) and the gap saw on Saturday in Spa points to this thesis. In addition, some team radio messages, also broadcasted live on TV, showed a Charles Leclerc surprised by some bouncing of the car, indicating how even the Monegasque driver was amazed by the behavior of the F1-75 car. The gap would become less surprising if you were sure that Max Verstappen used the new lighter chassis. However, Red Bull confirmed that they did not bring the new chassis, which is expected to bring them a further improvement of two-three tenths.
Is it plausible that the TD039 slowed down Ferrari?
The answer to this question can only come from the men in Red. With the data available and the technical considerations relating to the cars and the circuit, the conclusion that can be reached would not be precise. In fact, the conditions seemed favorable for the reigning World Champion from the start of the weekend, thanks to the weather, an RB18 ready right away that responded optimally to the innovations brought to the track and a circuit that adapts to the Austrian car.
Show your support for Scuderia Ferrari with official merchandise collection from Puma! Enter the online Puma Store and shop securely! And get your F1 tickets for every race with VIP hospitality and unparalleled insider access. Click here for the best offers to support Charles and Carlos from the track!
A confirmation in favor of the Maranello team concerns the performance of Sergio Perez, so far not able to get close to his teammate in terms of pace. So we just have to wait for the Belgian Grand Prix and the following days to draw some more precise objective conclusions, waiting for some information about this topic also from Ferrari itself.
Leave a Reply