F1, Ferrari: head down and focus on development work to continue improving. Ferrari in Bahrain confirmed the progress seen in winter testing.

Ferrari in Bahrain confirmed the progress seen in the winter testing session and showed signs that the Maranello team can fight for third place in the constructors’ standings, but in order tp be able to finish on the podium more times than in 2020 given the gap from Mercedes and Red Bull, the SF21 needs to be improved even more.

Half-full glass for Ferrari after the first Grand Prix of the season in Bahrain. In fact, as in the tests, thanks to the new power unit, it proved to be more competitive than last year on a flying lap, and that the pace and tyre management are the weak points of the SF21.

This is the aspect that the Maranello team has to work on in recent weeks if it is to fight for third place in the constructors’ classification . Above all because in addition to the Mclaren also the Alpha Tauri at the moment in the race have a few tenths of an advantage over the Red, and Aston Martin and Alpine will hardly always be in trouble like this weekend.

In particular, on Sunday the same problems of the SF90 were seen again. With a full tank and the soft tires, Scuderia Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz struggled in the first stint, only to improve their pace when the car became lighter and with the other compounds.

Instead, the two drivers can be considered the best news of the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend for the Italian side. Charles Leclerc took the SF21 to the second row in qualifying with a magic lap, while Carlos Sainz despite making two mistakes in Q3 and taking no risks at the start, convinced both by overtaking Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel in a few corners, and with an excellent last stint that suggests the SF21 has more potential than that expressed at Sakhir.

We will have answers in Imola, where Ferrari gave the first signs of awakening one year ago. On the circuit named after its founder, Ferrari will want to launch the challenge to Mclaren, but above all it will be understood if, as it seems after this weekend, in order to get on the podium or even win a race, it is necessary to hope for mistakes by Mercedes and Red Bull which at the moment seem to be from another planet.