What will Ferrari be able to do in Mexico? Mattia Binotto had indicated the Rodriguez brothers’ track as the most suitable for the characteristics of the SF21, but he never dared to talk about victory.
The Scuderia seems able to consistently be the third force behind Mercedes and Red Bull, so if anything ever happens between the contenders in the world championship, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, it could be the first to take advantage, just like Alpine succeeded in Hungary with Esteban Ocon and McLaren succeeded in Monza with both Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris.
The push forward came from the introduction of the new hybrid system ran on engine 4 which gave a new spark to the 065/6 …
“I am happy with the progress I have seen in the last few races – said the team principal – and they give me some confidence for the next races, especially in Mexico where we will be racing with maximum downforce on a track that is less sensitive to power so the gap from Mercedes will be smaller. I can say that the Mexican track will be more favorable to us than the Austin one ”.
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In fact, the power unit of the Maranello team revealed greater efficiency:
“Power is always available on the straight, from the start of the straight to the end. In Austin, although we were using maximum downforce, we were almost able to match the speed of the others. Considering the difficulties of last year there was certainly a big step forward: of course there is still a gap from the best engine, but now we believe that the gap is no longer so dramatic. “
Mexico City is located at an altitude of over 2,200 meters with very thin air that will require an adaptation of the cars to the characteristics of the track: to compensate for the loss of power, the turbo is called upon to work longer near the limit of 150 thousand revolutions of rotation, thus producing greater energy support for the MGU-H.
Since Ferrari has an internal combustion engine that still lacks something in terms of power as compared to Mercedes and Honda, in an environmental situation in which the 6-cylinder counts less, but the new ERS can make a greater difference, this is where the optimism of the Maranello team is justified. All the more so since Mercedes is credited as the engine manufacturier with the smallest turbo compared to that of Honda. In other venues it is an advantage, while at high altitude a weakness.
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Mexico also hides other pitfalls when it comes to cooling and braking: since the load on aerodynamic efficiency will count more, it is easy to think of engine hoods with increased hot air vents and larger brake intakes.
The SF21 is one of the cars that needs air to safeguard the reliability of the mechanical parts the most, so it will be interesting to see next week which configuration can be chosen during the Mexican weekend, in which Mattia Binotto will not join the team: the Ferrari boss will stay in Maranello to follow the development of the 2022 single-seater.
The boss will have no problem following the team’s work in real time from the remote garage in Maranello.
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