What Ferrari will we see in Barcelona? The Maranello team has to react to the Portuguese GP which did not match expectations, with the Italian side preceded by the McLaren of the excellent Lando Norris.
There is expectation to know what technical innovations will be introduced on the SF21 at Montmelò, a track that is considered by all to be a test benchmark for both the chassis, aerodynamics and engine qualities.
It is customary to say that a car that does well on the Catalunya circuit should be good almost everywhere, so the Spanish GP can represent an important verification of the McLaren-Ferrari challenge that is worth third place in the Constructors’ World Championship.
The Woking team in Portimao achieved more than that of the Scuderia with Lando Norris, fifth, and Daniel Ricciardo, ninth, while the Ferrari car had to settle for sixth place with Charles Leclerc, as Carlos Sainz remained out of the points zone due to a wrong race strategy.
Will anything change in Barcelona? The Maranello team’s fans hope so because the seasonal goal of Mattia Binotto, team principal of Ferrari, is precisely to aim for the role of third force and Ferrari will have to make sure not to increase the 11 points that separate the Reds from the MCL35 M in the Constructors’ Championship.
The SF21 will not have the modified floor that was seen in the Algarve last week: the two drivers in free practice had alternately tried a solution with six small flow deviators placed in front of the rear tyres, instead of the usual three. The data feedback was positive, but there was only one updated floor piece, so the solution was not used over the race weekend.
It was reasonable to expect that the update would make its debut on both cars in Spain and, instead, it will not. The concept will be repeated at another race, but not in Barcelona, where, instead, changes in the rear slide can be observed to increase the load.
In the rear, after the adoption of the new aerodynamic rules, a greater expansion of the flow is sought in the lower part of the extractor and all the teams are working to improve the extraction of air from the diffuser.
The technicians led by Enrico Cardile have also focused attention on the hydraulically controlled rear suspension: adequate adjustments must be found to prevent the SF21 from going into crisis when it comes to tyre degrdation, when the asphalt reaches a certain temperature. The 40 degrees of Portimao on the track were such as not to find the grip values recorded in the previous days.
Ferrari is looking for a test of redemption and Carlos Sainz, on his home track, aspires to score his best results for Ferrari so far.
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