Ferrari is not at all satisfied with the outcome of the 2021 Emilia Romagna GP: for how things were going in Imola it was not at all strange to think of Charles Leclerc second on the podium behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen.
Ferrari, on the other hand, returns home from the Made in Italy and Emilia Romagna GPs with a fourth place for the Monegasque and fifth for Carlos Sainz. The Italian side remains outside the podium positions, but the awareness is that the result at Enzo and Dino Ferrari counts enormously more than that of Sakhir, because the SF21 showed a potential that had not been seen in Bahrain.
One team with two effective drivers
To begin with, the Scuderia is the only team that can count on a pair of closely matched drivers: Red Bull, Mercedes and McLaren have built their race with a single driver, while the “second” had to deal with a “confusional state”(Valtteri Bottas, Sergio Perez and also Daniel Ricciardo).
Carlos Sainz, who started 11th, after a mediocre qualifying, moved to fifth place behind his teammate: the start of the Spaniard’s race was tumultuous, because in the wet he made a series of errors trying to drive over the limit of the car, but when he found the pace, Carlos built a solid performance that bodes well for the future.
The Spanish driver has not yet found the mechanisms to exploit the SF21 at 100%, but there is no doubt how precious his meticulous contribution is in making the car improve.
The new floor was for Portimao
At Ferrari they were confident that the SF21 could have done well at Imola: it is no coincidence that the debut of a new floor with the L-cut that would have been destined for Portimao, was used earlier. The anticipation was made possible thanks to Maranello’s proximity to the circuit on the banks of the Santerno, but we had the pleasant confirmation that the car (although it is derived from the SF1000) has nothing to do with last year. Novelties were tried and (often) not kept for the race because they didn’t give results.
So far every solution that has been brought to the track has been promoted for the race, a sign that the development undertaken by Enrico Cardile’s technicians is heading in the right direction. The team that flopped in 2020 seems to be putting in place a piece at a time of a puzzle that offers a more coherent image with the history of the Cavallino.
Certainly we shouldn’t get overexcitied for a fourth and fifth place, but there is no doubt that Ferrari has made fans think that some surprises during the season can be expected.
The wings setup a choice, not a gamble
Let’s try to analyze Imola with a minimum of rationality: in qualifying, Ferrari used a rear wing with more load than the spoon one that had been approved for the first European race. It was a choice that paid off because Charles Leclerc managed to finish the qualifying session on the second row.
It is true that Lando Norris with McLaren was penalized for track limits, otherwise he would have been ahead of Charles, but if the SF21 wanted to compete on the flying lap with the MCL35, Ferrari would have focused on aerodynamics with less drag.
Instead, the choice to focus on the load was not wrong. Not only for the rain forecast which was right on time, but also for a precise strategy that aimed to help the tires.
The cold climate certainly favored the SF21 car which was not at ease in the heat of Bahrain, but the feeling is that in Maranello they have begun to understand how to make the 2021 tire warm-up work better.
In the wet, Ferrari no longer looks bad
Last year, Ferrari was disastrous with wet tires, with the SF1000 even worse on wet track than on dry conditions. Now the SF21 looked strong: of course the increased load helped, but don’t think that on the forehand the difference between Charles Leclerc and Norris was as abysmal as it seemed from the TV images.
McLaren at the speed trap managed a top speed of 293.0 km / h with Lando, while Charles reached 291.3, in line with that of Verstappen and Hamilton both capable of 291.8 km / h.
There is a wave of enthusiasm
Ferrari, therefore, looks to the future with confidence in the awareness that the role of third force is by no means a chimera and also the gap between the two top teams has decreased in qualifying as in the race. The one minute gap from the first race seems to have been forgotten, just like the air you breathe in Maranello is no longer the toxic one of 2020, because a wave of enthusiasm has arrived.
The Scuderia has given its mark to the 2021 Formula 1 season despite not having collected everything it deserved: McLaren are only 7 points ahead in the Constructors standings, while the other contenders to the middle group are far away: the closest team is Aston Martin which is at 27 lengths, followed by AlphaTauri and Alpine.
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