Scuderia Ferrari focused more on gaining as much performance as possible rather than a strong reliability when designing its engine for the 2022 Formula 1 season and later request to the FIA to bring some changes to the power unit in order to fix improve reliability, but “without resounding success”.
The Italian side left Baku without scoring any points after a double DNF at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix: Carlos Sainz had to retire is F1-75 car after just nine laps due to a hydraulics issue, while Charles Leclerc’s race ended a few laps later due to a power unit failure which will be investigated in Maranello this week.
This was the second DNF for Charles Leclerc in the last three events, both caused by power unit issues and both while the Monegasque driver was in the lead, after the similar outcome at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona. As a result, the Monégasque driver has gone from a 34-point lead in the Drivers’ standings after the Australian Grand Prix to a 21-point deficit ahead of the next round of the season, the Canadian Grand Prix.
For Ferrari it will be even more difficult to recover the gap in the next few races because Charles Leclerc will most likely have to face grid penalties due to the new components, just like the Scuderia’s customer teams, Haas and Alfa Romeo: both of them lost one car in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix at the Baku City Circuit, as Kevin Magnussen’s issue seems to be caused by the turbo-charger and the MGU-H, while Ferrari believe that Zhou Guanyu’s retirement may not have been related to their components.
Auto Motor und Sport F1 journalist Michael Schmidt feels there is no light at the end of this tunnel for the Maranello team, at least not in the next few races. He explained:
“Because the technology for the combustion engine was frozen at the end of February and the hybrid system has to be homologated at the end of September, it was obvious for Ferrari to first look at the power and performance development. They wanted to take care of the reliability later if necessary. The regulations allow for corrections to be made if you can prove to the FIA it’s all about ensuring reliability. What is far more worrying is they must now launch a new unit without knowing what caused the recent vulnerabilities and how to respond to them. Ferrari had previously requested a reliability repair from the FIA – without resounding success.”
Time is also an issue for the Maranello team in their attempt to solve the engine problems:
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“Modifications to the engine are also long-term projects,” Schmidt continued. “Even if you think you have a solution today, it won’t be built into the engine tomorrow. First, test bench runs must validate the modification. Then new parts have to be built.” – he added.
So far, the only good news for Scuderia Ferrari seems to be the fact that their 2022 power unit is indeed the most powerful on the grid. The AMuS journalist points out that “the unanimous opinion is the Ferrari engine has the most power in the field. Four kilowatts more than Honda, eight more than Mercedes, 12 more than Renault. Much more important, however, is the lead in drivability. Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff recommends listening to the individual engines during the acceleration phase. None revs up as gently as the Ferrari. This means a much more advantageous gear ratio can also be used.” – he explained.
However, he concluded, they have a “major disadvantage – they are not bulletproof. The higher the mileage, the greater the concern.”
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