Monza is calling, can Ferrari respond? The “temple of speed” on paper does not favour the characteristics of the F1-75, a car that prefers slow corners and traction, while Red Bull is very strong on the long straights, with a clear superiority for the RB18 especially when using the DRS.
Given these circumstances, it would seem that in the Italian Grand Prix will be a difficult one of the Maranello team, with Max Verstappen who has a great chance to go on and take his 31st victory to match the number of wins secured by Nigel Mansell and the 11th triumph this season, with the intention of beating the record of wins in season, which is currently held by Michael Schumacher (2004) and Sebastian Vettel (2013).
Yet, Ferrari despite the performance crisis, still hopes to challenge Red Bull in these last seven races of a championship that started so promising for the Maranello team and should have seen the Italian side much more close to its main rival given the performance and the speed of the F1-75 car in the first part of the F1 campaign. The Maranello technicians led directed by Enrico Cardile are trying to understand what the has taken away the strong pace of the F1-75 car, unable to transfer the necessary energy to the tires and get them in the right temperature window to ensure optimal performance.
In a single flying lap with fresh soft compound tires, Scuderia Ferrari manages to cover the issues that emerge much clearer during the race with significant performance loss in terms of lap time, the result of overheating of the tires which suffer from a lack of grip.
At Zandvoort, a track without long straights, Charles Leclerc had only the sixth fastest lap, more than seven tenths slower than Max Verstappen time, but also finishing behind the two Mercedes cars and Fernando Alonso’s Alpine in this ranking.
The F1-75 is probably the car that has suffered most from the introduction by Spa-Francorchamps of the TD39 anti-porpoising technical directive, losing more load than Red Bull and Mercedes. Mattia Binotto does not credit this theory, having emphasized that Ferrari are still looking for an answer to the Hungarian Grand Prix poor race pace, a track where the Maranello were convinced of being able to secure a strong one-two win.
And, then, there seems to have been a deadly combination of factors that has clipped the wings of the F1-75. Ferrari improved up until the French Grand Prix, then lost ground despite the development updates. Ferrari is still searching for answers regarding their huge tyre degradation issue since the last few races, so they might do comparative tests in Monza, by using the pre-France Grand prix floor. A step back to find the source of the issue.
We should not be surprised if we see the inlets of the Venturi channels with a design less oriented towards Red Bull choices, just as Red Bull rejected the Ferrari-style floor. A sign that similar solutions and equal choices does not necessarily always give the best results on all cars.
In short, Ferrari did not give up and in front of its fans wants to honor a season that is not at all over: we will see the F1-75 in the lowest aerodynamic version possible in an attempt to counter Red Bull top speeds, but the hope of Maranello is to find the grip in the corners to take advantage of the traction coming out of them.
The engineers led by Enrico Gualtieri will try to push the engine mappings in Monza. In the last few races, the full potential of the PU has been held back a little to avoid breakdowns/engine failures, as confirmed by Motorsport Italy.
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At Monza, the Ferrari drivers will have fresh power units: Charles Leclerc will use the one mounted at Spa-Francorchamps, while Carlos Sainz will have the new hybrid which means he will have to take a grid penalty. The evolved ERS will help improve the overall weight of the power unit and will bring the F1-75 car closer to the minimum limit of 798 kg, but maybe we will see that extra power in the electrical management that has not been seen on Charles’ updated power unit.
In front of the Tifosi it is better to risk a power unit failure than to have an anonymous race, especially since the two world championships are already in Red Bull’s bag.
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