Scuderia Ferrari introduced an upgraded hybrid system for its power unit on the SF21 car of Charles Leclerc in the latest round of the 2021 Formula 1 season, in Russia. The upgrade was was understood to be worth less than 10bhp, yet the Maranello team explained ahead of the Sochi weekend that its main goal was to help lay the foundations for the 2022 season and the following years, when teams will no longer have the possibility to further develop the engines.
Charles Leclerc enjoyed a spirited fightback through the field in Sochi, recovering from his engine grid penalty to run as high as third and seemed close to scoring some good points, before things went wrong at the end, as the Monegasque driver remined on slick tyres despite the heavy rains, dropping outside the points zone.
In an interview after the Russian Grand Prix, Scuderia Ferrari team principal Binotto confirmed that he did not want to put a number on how much lap time had been gained with the upgraded power unit, once again pointing out that it was chiefly about planning for the future.
“No, I don’t want to quantify it,” the Ferrari boss replied, when asked about the time gained – “I think that is a fact of our confidentiality. It is a step in terms of performance, but as Charles and Laurent [Mekies] said already, more importantly for us, certainly it has pushed forward as much as we could with that new technology. It will certainly helped in the view of 2022 in terms of the experience we can do.But I’m happy now that Charles has got it and got it for the rest of the season, which still is a step.” – the Ferrari boss explained.
Scuderia Ferrari now plans to introduce the upgraded power unit to Carlos Sainz Jr’s car at one of the remaining races this year, but of course Carlos will also have to start from the back of the grid due to a penalty. The Italian side’s sporting director Laurent Mekies had said on Saturday after qualifying that the team was “satisfied” with the findings from the new power unit, but said that it was “no game changer”.
The upgraded power unit nevertheless comes at a good moment for the Maranello team, in its close battle against rivals McLaren for a place behind Mercedes and Red Bull in the 2021 Formula One constructors’ championship, with seven races remaining this season.
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