After 14 entertaining events in the 2021 Formula One season, we now head to Sochi Autodrom for the 2021 Russian Grand Prix. The stakes are high as the fight for the championship is closer than ever. Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton are separated by just five points in the race for the drivers’ title, while Scuderia Ferrari hopes to fight back and recover some points to McLaren after the Maranello team lost third place in the Formula 1 Constructor Standings at the end of the Italian Grand Prix.
Making a prediction regarding Scuderia Ferrari this season is not easy and cannot be taken for granted. The SF21, in fact, is a very special car. And although it has good characteristics, the chassis of its cousin SF1000 limits the car’s capabilities a lot. Not to mention the highly discussed power unit which, as things stand, although compared to last season has certainly reduced the gap compared to Merceds and Red Bull, continues to have a considerable deficit. Until the new engine is introduced in the next races, which will implement a new hybrid technology (read all the details here), the Maranello team’s cars will continue to suffer.
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Analyzing the track characteristics, the particular Russian circuit highlights the hybrid capabilities of the engines, a real flaw of the Ferrari 065/6. This is why it is all too easy to think how once again the Italian cars will have to look in the rear view mirrors and once again they will be forced to find the right aerodynamic compromise by having a reduced set-up window compared to the top teams.
Here, needless to say, the maximization of the hybrid system will be crucial, to balance the two phases, release and recharge, of the system which in Ferrari is managed by the Soc (state of charge) mapping that can be operated via a setting on the steering wheel. Keeping in mind the aforementioned extensions that make up the layout of Sochi, however, finding the most appropriate setting to release in the best way the 120KW (about 165Cv) during the round produced by the MGU-K motor generator should not be too difficult a task. .
The technicians of Maranello, therefore, will focus a lot on traction and mechanical grip, two elements where the Reds have shown that they are string. Enjoying excellent grip, therefore, could be the perfect weapon to overshadow the lack of engine power and at the same time enhance the strengths of the SF21. The development will be based purely on the management of compounds to produce the right amount of grip that can be developed on the ground. On the other hand, in Formula One, lap times are also built on slow corners and not only on straights.
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