Ferrari explain extensive work that has gone into 2021 power unit

Ferrari explain extensive work that has gone into 2021 power unit. Ferrari explain extensive work that has gone into 2021 power unit.

Scuderia Ferrari’s Enrico Gualtieri has explained the extensive work that has gone into their new power unit for 2021, addressing a major weakness from last year. Ferrari’s uncompetitive 2020 was mainly down to an uncompetitive power unit, with the team hobbled by an underpowered engine after a string of Technical Directives were handed down by the FIA at the end of 2019.

These Directives were aimed at Ferrari’s controversial power unit, in which the FIA weren’t completely satisfied by the legality of the engine – the finger mainly being pointed at the fuel flow rate being exceeded without detection.

The allegations were never properly proven, but the fact remains that Ferrari’s engine became their weak link in 2020.

For 2021, Ferrari have completely overhauled their engine to create a new 065/6 power unit. Speaking at the launch of the new SF21, Enrico Gualtieri, Director of Ferrari’s Power Unit Department, said the team were aware of their weaknesses and the areas needed to improve.

“In our sport, you have to be continuously aware of the areas where you can improve, the points you can improve. You have to continuously think about your lessons, and experience, and learn from your defeats. And then you work hard, with humility. This awareness, along with our passion and skills, and the skills of our technical partners, is what created the power unit 065/6 for the 2021 Formula 1 World Championship. Along with the chassis engineers, we have worked considerably on the layout of the power unit, trying to make the overall project for the car as efficient as possible. We continuously worked on the internal combustion motor, aiming to increase its thermal efficiency, with help also coming from our partner Shell which has led to an advantage estimated at over one tenth of a second per lap.” – he explained.

“The turbocharger has been revised, to meet the needs of the motor and, at the same time, we have planned to increase the efficiency in the recovery of the exhaust fumes. We’re also working on the hybrid system, on the electronic part, trying to revise all its components and optimise them,” continued Gualtieri – “The 065/6, therefore, was born out of all of this. It has been teamwork, we have all worked together. We have put enormous energy into this project, but we’re already working hard on the power unit for 2022. It will debut next year, and it will be even more important because it’ll be with us for at least three years of races.”

Gualtieri explained that there’s a certain weight of expectation on his department’s shoulders, due to the company’s founder Enzo Ferrari’s passion for engines: “Enzo Ferrari used to say that the motor is the heart of a racing car that has a soul. This describes the responsibilities that all of us feel when we recall his words. Here in Maranello, there’s an extraordinary tradition of motor engineering.”