Scuderia Ferrari had set many goals ahead of the six-day pre-season testing sessions at the Circuit de Catalunya and Bahrain. Among these, as anticipated, there was the aim of verifying the correlation between the track and the simulation tools used in Maranello, such as the wind tunnel, computational fluid dynamics and the simulator.
The data analyzed in the post-Barcelona test had given the first positive answers, but Ferrari also needed those of Bahrain, a very different track, especially as regards the management and correct functioning of the tires, with a marked severity for the rear tires and their degradation.
Ferrari reached a good level of track-factory correlation in the six days of testing
“The primary objective of the tests was to try to run consistently to gather as much data as possible. This year there is a completely new project, in which not only the aerodynamic concept changes but also the way the car behaves compared to the past. From this point of view we had no references” – Mattia Binotto said in a press conference held with some selected media, as reported by formu1a.uno – “It was necessary to reconstruct a correlation between the behavior on the track and what we first imagined (thinking and designing it) and then seen in the instruments at Maranello”.
The results were also good in Bahrain, confirmed Mattia Binotto. «When I say that I am satisfied it is because we have found a good level of correlation. The car behaved as we expected, both when changing the set-up and as regards the limits of the car. They are the same ones we saw on the track.” – he explained.
Creating this world of correlation is the basis on which a team builds a season since “if you have a good correlation, you know that what you are testing and developing in the factory has a good chance that it will work on the track”. According to many, a season like this, with new rules and regulations, can also be decided by the constant race for developments. The car that will win in Bahrain is not necessarily the strongest after five races, in the middle phase of the season or especially in the final one. “Even if we have a good car in Bahrain, I wouldn’t be too happy because more races would be needed to confirm the performance and avoid it being simply an illusion.”
The budget cap as a new variable in the race for developments
What worries the Italian-Swiss engineer the most is “our development capacity compared to that of other teams”. It is not a fear, he was keen to point this out, because “when the basis and the correlation are good, we are dealing with an ideal situation to develop. The starting point of this F1-75 is good and healthy, it is not the result of chance but of what we have thought and designed.” – he added.
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Mattia Binotto is not worried about the technical development skills of the team, rather about a further limitation to the equation which is the management of the budget cap. “From this season, the ability to develop is not only creative, but there is also a limit to the cost cap that weighs on each of us in a different way in terms of how we are made, structured and how we interpret the rules. It will be an important variable this year, which could influence a sporting result”. In summary, compared to the past, the development is not only the result of the skills of the engineers but also of the management of the budget cap and of the aerodynamic limitations regarding the time and runs respectively which are allowed in wind tunnel and computational fluid dynamics.
Returning to Bahrain, there are now only a few days to go before the first session which will begin at 1 pm next Friday. There is a lot of anticipation to see the true performances of all the cars, especially the F1-75, as the Italian team has been under analysis by experts, fans and media: “We will find out how we are in the first qualifying session and in the first race. I think we will be competitive, I don’t know how much; it can be two tenths ahead, two tenths behind “- said the Ferrari boss – “Red Bull seemed very strong to me, especially Verstappen. Maybe one RB18 will be in front of us while the other one behind. We will arrive in Bahrain at a level where we can compete and if there is a difference, it will not be unbridgeable. The starting point is good, as we will find out on Saturday.”
But is Ferrari fighting for the top position? Would the Italian team be satisfied with the second position at the first Grand Prix of the 2022 Formula One season? “No, I would not sign for the second position” said Mattia Binotto, in a rather decisive tone, as he went into more detail: “Our ambition is to be able to compete, we want to be able to fight at every race and therefore at the start I don’t want to settle for a second place. However, I don’t presume to say that it wouldn’t be a satisfying result, but I do have the ambition to go into the race to win.” – the Ferrari boss concluded.
