The dark evil. The invisible enemy. The replacement of the engine in Jeddah, mounting the second power unit of the season from the three granted for the entire championship, sparked a series of fair reactions from the media: how is it conceivable that the entire power unit needs to be changed after just one GP on both single-seater, without suspecting a serious reliability problem?
It is legitimate to think so, especially since Charles Leclerc left Bahrain with no points in the Drivers standings, the result of a retirement caused on lap 41 by the control unit which failed due to a problem with a cable harness. In reality, the short circuit had already burned another CE and a battery on Sunday morning, generating fears and concerns.
Which didn’t go away after yesterday morning’s free practice, conducted at a reduced engine pace with prudent mapping. Ferrari did nothing and said nothing to give an explanation that went in another direction. But if there was a real engine issue maybe they would have prepared a change for the customer teams too. And that hasn’t been the case, at least so far…
And, then, we have to go and look for other aspects to explain what is happening. Ferrari is the team that has taken most risks, bringing many innovations that are not just for aerodynamics. Friday’s obsession was to understand if the tire degradation seen in Sakhir would also be seen in Jeddah, a street track with other asphalt characteristics.
The type of track facilitates the task, but the modifications are also playing their part. Drivers found the SF-23 to be more consistent over long runs, though it showed no signs of reducing the understeer that seems a major problem. In reality, in Maranello they worked all night on the simulator and not just to make the engine response less abrupt at certain speeds: the power comes on too brutally and triggers an understeer that doesn’t help performance or tire life.
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The Saudi Arabian track is one that engages the front tires in a particular way, so softening the power delivery in certain parts does not mean removing horsepower, but finding the best traction to exploit the potential of the SF-23. And, then, the feeling is that Enrico Gualtieri’s working group is trying to “specialize” the units to the different characteristics of the tracks, while being understood that the parts used are the same: Bahrain, a classic stop and go circuit, requires the power unit to be made up of violent accelerations and braking, while Jeddah has high-speed sections that require, for example, completely different hybrid strategies.
Tuning the engine to these needs can allow each unit to be exploited in a more specific way, without leaving the homologation constraints of the parts. Is it all true or is it just marketing to hide other troubles that could be caused by temperatures that are difficult to control, as critics claim.
We’ll find out from qualifying and tomorrow from the outcome of the race: the Red Bulls, in particular that of Max Verstappen, seem uncatchable, but if at least the Aston Martins, the second force ascertained also in yesterday’s free practice, end up behind Ferrari, it can be said that the the Maranello team’s world championship has yet to begin, with a boost of confidence for a team that always seems to be under a fierce attack. And with different friendly fire.
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