Scuderia Ferrari used the first free practice session for the 2022 Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix to make a comparative test at the Monza circuit with Carlos Sainz running the previous floor specification, which was originally used in he first part of the 2022 Formula 1 campaign.
The Maranello team then introduced a new floor version on the F1-75 challenger of Charles Leclerc at the Paul Ricard track, as Ferrari was confident at that time that it had delivered an important step forward in terms of pace and performance. However, due to some recent issues its tyre management in races, where the F1-75 cars proved no longer able to bring the tyres into the optimal window and therefore keep up with Red Bull’s pace, the Maranello team is trying to identify whether the recent aero updates may have pushed its car in a direction that is not ideal for its balance.
Asked ahead of the Italian Grand Prix to comment on the thinking behind testing out the previous floor specification, team principal Mattia Binotto pointed out that it was a data gathering session for the team to try to understand if its recent development have led to some unintended effects:
“If we look back at the last races, where in terms of tyre degradation we have not been the best, we certainly had issues with the car balance. Having an open balance, medium-high speed to low speed corners, generated overheating into the tyres themselves, which somehow then brings to the degradation. So, we know that the car balance was not the right one. The reason of the poor car balance was due to aero developments that brought us there. It was a question mark for us. So the reason why we did the test yesterday here in Monza, even if maybe Monza is not the best circuit to do such a test, we did it to collect data, to analyse them once back at the factory and try to have a good explanation for what happened which, at the moment, we do not have as a complete and final answer. So we are still in the – let me say – path of analysing, understanding and hopefully addressing it for the future.” – Mattia Binotto explained at Monza.
Scuderia Ferrari has been cautious regarding its prospects of challenging Red Bull for the race win in the Italian Grand Prix this weekend, aware that the high-speed Monza circuit may not be ideal for the characteristics of the F1-75 car, which has not been as efficient as the RB18 cars in the last three rounds of the 2022 Formula 1 season.
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However, Carlos Sainz was left especially upbeat about how the Ferrari car performed during Friday practice at Monza, and explained:
“Obviously after coming from Spa, the last low downforce track where we struggled a lot, we expected to not be very competitive here. But I must say that since FP1 the car felt in a much better window in a much better position than where it was in Spa. The lap times were coming easy, the stopwatch doesn’t lie and we were more and more on the pace, so it’s been a pleasant surprise. That doesn’t mean we are the fastest, I don’t think we are the fastest out there by any means, especially in the long runs, but at least we are closer than what we thought.” – he concluded.
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