Ferrari technical director explains why 'copying Red Bull floor' wouldn't have worked

Ferrari technical director explains why ‘copying Red Bull floor’ wouldn’t have worked. Technical director Enrico Cardile explained why Ferrari did not adopt the rivals' floor.

That deceptive floor
Everyone in the paddock had taken out paper, pen, and above all, a camera when in Monte Carlo, the crane lifted Sergio Perez’s Red Bull, which had just hit the wall at Sainte Devote in qualifying. That would have been an unrepeatable opportunity to peek at the floor of the RB19, the place of champions’ secrets.

Enrico Cardile’s comments
Certainly, Ferrari was taking notes, but technical director Enrico Cardile explained why the Scuderia did not adopt the rivals’ floor: “Part of our work is to analyze the competitors’ cars. So that was one more photo in our database. Even though our cars are different, it was interesting to analyze the Red Bull floor because they do many things differently from the competition. But to take advantage of a photo, you have to look at it with the right eyes. You have to detach yourself from your car and see the big picture,” these were the statements made by Enrico Cardile in a recent interview for German magazine Auto Motor und Sport.

“A ‘one-to-one’ copy (that is, simply passively copying the rivals’ floor) has never worked, and certainly not with these cars, where millimeters can make a big difference. However, it is possible to try to understand what they are trying to achieve with these shapes and draw inspiration from it,” the Italian engineer pointed out, reiterating the concept that a car is an orchestra on the track, where the individual element has value only when placed in a harmonious context.

The revolution of 2024
The same technical director stated that the 2024 car (which will be presented to fans on February 13) will represent a breaking point from the past. If in the last two years Ferrari has followed a specific path, by mid-2023, it realized that this path would not allow it to overcome the most important limits and, therefore, reach Red Bull.