The Formula 1 Belgian GP weekend did not start in the best way possible for Scuderia Ferrari. We are clearly referring to Charles Leclerc’s situation, which was widely expected: the Monegasque driver will start from the back of the grid due to a complete replacement of his F1-75’s power unit. A necessary measure to allow the Scuderia Ferrari to install the new hybrid part before the engine development freeze which will be operational starting from September 1st.
The Maranello team’s chances at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps will probably weigh on the shoulders of Carlos Sainz who will be able to enjoy another advantage of no small importance: Max Verstappen will also start from the back, just like the Ferrari Monegasque driver, with Red Bull copying the strategy of their rivals by mounting a fresh engine that will be very useful to help the 2021 F1 world champion in his recovery race and for the upcoming Monza GP where the power unit will count even more.
With a world ranking not yet defined, at least as regards the standard bearers of the Prancing Horse stable, Sainz has the opportunity to run after his teammate, giving a rosy perspective to this last part of the 2022 championship.
In the first free practice session at Spa-Francorchamps, which was marked by rain in the final part, the two drivers concentrated on data collection. A rather normal element when the variable of the new Technical Directive 039 comes into play. In general, even if the elements that can be assessed are not many, the F1-75 immediately appeared in possession of a good set-up. A fact confirmed not so much by having scored the first two times in FP1 (a less relevant factor with a green and then wet track), but by the behavior of the F1-75 car itself.
In the second free practice session the work was conditioned by the fact that the track itself was never in perfect condition. At first it was particularly “green”. In the middle phase, things improved, but the attempts with soft tires were difficult to read due to a rapidly evolving track. The second and fifth place of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz says very little about the real competitiveness of the F1-75 car.
No serious evaluation can be made on the race pace because the rain returned two to three laps from the start of the simulations. This picture clearly conditioned the event, which made it for a Friday that was difficult to understand.
Charles Leclerc #16
“It feels good to be back in the car after the break. We completed a solid number of laps while running in variable conditions, with rain coming and going in different parts of the track. It’s still difficult to determine the pecking order for this weekend, as all teams ran completely different programmes. Our main focus will be on race pace tomorrow, as qualifying will not be as relevant due to our penalty.”
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Carlos Sainz #55
“Overall it was a good Friday. In FP1 I felt comfortable with the balance of the car. For FP2 we tried some changes which didn’t really work as expected and we lost the feeling a bit. However, I’m confident we know where to find the lap time for tomorrow and the long run pace was also ok, so I believe we are in a good place for the rest of the weekend.”
It was a night of reflection and analysis for Scuderia Ferrari. The engineers are working to deliver an F1-75 car to the drivers that will give Charles Leclerc the chance to recover from the back and Carlos Sainz the chance to use an unexpected assist to take his win of the 2022 Formula 1 season.
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