F1, Jeddah: Ferrari with less downforce than in Bahrain but with similar top speeds. Ferrari with less downforce than in Bahrain.

Scuderia Ferrari brought a lower downforce configuration wing to the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, which was used in the second free practice session at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit and then confirmed for qualifying and the race. As understood and reported by F1 Analyst Giuliano Duchessa for Formu1a.uno, this guaranteed between two and six kilometers per hour more if used without DRS on the basis of the straight, but little or nothing when the mobile wing was wide open.

This also explains the half second deficit seen on the straight for the F1-75 against the much more loaded RB18 in qualifying, when in Bahrain the gap was much smaller: at the Bahrain International circuit, the Italian car proved to be fastest in the first part of the straights while the RB18 in the second.

This has allowed the various teams to already get their ideas on the competitiveness not only of the cars, but also of the engines. According to a technician from Mercedes, in the current fight between Scuderia Ferrari and Red Bull, the Maranello team can count on a slightly more powerful engine than the Honda one, which can be worth half a tenth, a tenth at most, something more than Mercedes (2 tenths) and Renault.

In short, at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Ferrari’s new rear wing specification has not shifted the balance of the F1-75 too much compared to the slightly heavier set-up in Bahrain, but it will be very useful for its appearances on other tracks, where slightly more aerodynamic downforce will be needed as compared to the Saudi Arabian track. Also in Melbourne, but above all in Imola to give an example for the upcoming circuits. In Australia, the Bahrain rear wing will be more useful because it is a rather stop & go track, albeit less than in the past due to the changes in the second sector, with many medium-low speed corners and where the F1-75 could continue to have his say in a rather important way.