Ferrari on SF21 and 2022 project: “Carefully considering what makes sense”. Ferrari on SF21 and 2022 project.

The overall performance of Scuderia Ferrari in the 2021 Formula 1 championship has been impressive, especially in the qualifying sessions of the Monaco Grand Prix and Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Two pole positions for the Maranello team thanks to Charles Leclerc, which were a huge surprise to many. In the race however everything is not going as smoothly as it should, due to the fact that the race pace is far from what the SF21 is able to acheve on Saturday.

Laurent Mekies, sporting director of Ferrari, admitted in a recent interview for Speedweek.com that he and Ferrari were positively surprised by the performances in Monaco and Baku. Yet they also remained calm: “Of course we were happy. But we also kept our feet on the ground. Because it was clear to us that we would not be able to maintain first place in the race.” Team Principal Mattia Binotto said the same thing earlier too. So they knew at Ferrari that Red Bull and Mercedes would be faster in the race – “The disappointment after the race came more from the fact that Pierre Gasly was able to slip past at the pit stop, and later Sebastian Vettel. Our race pace was good, but there we missed an opportunity to score more points.” – he explained.

Will there be any upgrades at Ferrari?
Despite the fact that Scuderia Ferrari, like every other team, is clearly already working in the background on the changes that are to come in 2022, work is definitely underway on this season’s car. Still, even Mekies knows that the options are limited. “It’s true that knowing we have limited resources due to the work on the all-new 2022 car, we have to carefully consider what makes sense and what doesn’t,” he added.

“It’s not that we’re going to sit by the wayside, but the current situation will remain as it is”, continued the Frenchman. “On some tracks we will be able to attack earlier than on others. We will try to optimise what we have, we will try to understand the car even better. Regarding the powertrain, we will bring some promising solutions to the track later in the season.” So while there are some improvements coming at for the SF21 car this season, we should not expect any extreme changes in the performance of the Maranello team.