We have already said it: a sixth place with Charles Leclerc and an eighth with Carlos Sainz in the Bahrain GP that opened the 2021 Formula 1 season are not places to make Ferrari smile. Yet at the Racing Department there is a climate of moderate optimism, looking to the future.
The Maranello team, after having put some solid points on the SF21, is deciding what developments the technical staff headed by Enrico Cardile will have to bring to the next rounds of the world championship in a sequence that presents Imola, Portimao and Barcelona.
The attention of the engineers is obviously not focused on Mercedes and Red Bull, clearly more competitive than the Reds, but on McLaren which today represents the third force in the championship and, therefore, is the goal that Ferrari hope to reach at the end of the season.
The SF21 has shown a strange behaviour: it is not bad with a full tank of fuel, it defends itself with an empty tank but struggles more in the middle. At the Ferrari box, in particular, the last stint carried out by Carlos Sainz did not pass unnoticed: the Spaniard stopped to change tires on lap 37 and after having mounted a train of hard in 2″7 he started an interesting stint towards the checkered flag that saw him take a step equal, if not better than that of Lando Norris, fifth at the finish and “first” in the “GP of the rest”, namely that of the “midfield” which also includes AlphaTauri, Aston Martin and Alpine.
The Ferrari in the final phase of the race was actually strong and also the gap from Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes was significantly reduced.
Carlos Sainz’s stint that is under the lens
Carlos Sainz | Lando Norris | Lewis Hamilton |
37 P 1: 39.631 | 37 1: 34.501 | 37 1: 34.740 |
38 1: 55.128 | 38 1: 34.396 | 38 1: 34.720 |
39 1: 34.661 | 39 1: 34.629 | 39 1: 34.816 |
40 1: 34.630 | 40 1: 34.756 | 40 1: 34.890 |
41 1: 34.876 | 41 1: 34.800 | 41 1: 34.334 |
42 1: 34.636 | 42 1: 35.090 | 42 1: 34.199 |
43 1: 34.811 | 43 1: 34.805 | 43 1: 34.163 |
44 1: 35.081 | 44 1: 34.733 | 44 1: 34.015 |
45 1: 36.024 | 45 1: 34.816 | 45 1: 34.583 |
46 1: 34.883 | 46 1: 35.049 | 46 1: 34.492 |
47 1: 34.693 | 47 1: 34.843 | 47 1: 34.591 |
48 1: 34.509 | 48 1: 35.030 | 48 1: 34.167 |
49 1: 34.636 | 49 1: 35.112 | 49 1: 34.136 |
50 1: 34.587 | 50 1: 34.768 | 50 1: 34.354 |
51 1: 35.110 | 51 1: 35.074 | 51 1: 34.579 |
52 1: 35.009 | 52 1: 35.308 | 52 1: 34.939 |
53 1: 35.163 | 53 1: 35.429 | 53 1: 36.155 |
54 1: 35.607 | 54 1: 35.900 | 54 1: 34.814 |
55 1: 35.577 | 55 1: 35.718 | 55 1: 34.706 |
56 1: 35.760 | 56 1: 35.733 | 56 1: 34.918 |
The numbers show, in short, that the potential of the SF21 is even bigger than the result brought home by the two drivers which is far from exciting, considering the gap of one minute from on the black arrow of Hamilton. If we were to stop at the macro data, there would be little to laugh at in Maranello, but by analyzing what happened to Carlos in the last stint, it emerges that the managers of the Sports Management can extract from the SF21 a potential that obviously exists, but the drivers fail to exploit it.
It is clear that there is a different behavior of the car with the different Pirelli compounds, but it seems clear that the SF21 is exalted in the flying lap (Charles Leclerc gave a brilliant proof of this by slipping into the Sakhir grid in the second row, in fourth place) and with an emptying tank.
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The first updates to the SF21 will arrive for Imola: these are changes that had already been planned, while others are coming, the result of the experiences that emerged from winter testing session.
In the wind tunnel, for example, two vertical bulkheads were tested, as McLaren has cleverly introduced under the central part of the diffuser where there is no restriction of the height of 50 mm from the reference plane. It is not certain that the same solution works properly under the Ferrari diffuser. The attention of the aerodynamics is focused on the search for the load and there is talk of modifications to the floor: the indentation of Aston Martin and Mercedes on the trailing edge could be introduced, also introducing other vortex generators in front of the rear tyres.
Even a muzzle with a different integration of the cape that has the task of directing the flow towards the floor is not excluded. And on the approved 065/6 engine it is not excluded that small updates may arrive on the unconstrained parts to find a few more horsepower.
Great attention is paid to the management of the tyres: the role of the brake ducts and the air ducts are very important, which must help to dispose of the heat of the brakes to keep the rim as cool as possible, so as not to trigger overheating of tyres and a deterioration greater than expected.
The engineers directed by Enrico Gualtieri have decided to introduce new components after they have passed a cycle of three long runs instead of the five planned so far. It is a sign that in Maranello they are aware that they have reached a good reliability target with the power unit and they are trying to reduce development times in the areas granted.
In Sakhir it seemed quite evident that McLaren benefited from the engine on the MCL35 M: the Mercedes power unit is an undeniable step forward compared to the Renault one. If Ferrari’s intention is to become third force, it will be essential to try to close the gap from the “papaya” car in every sector.

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