Scuderia Ferrari will race the Spanish Grand Prix (7-9 May) without the new floor used in free practice for the Portuguese GP, neither in qualifying nor in the race. The floor, an evolution of the “Z” one introduced in Imola, was an experimental piece and served as a basis for evaluating future developments for the SF21 car.
In the following races we will see some more updates, then like all the other teams, Ferrari too will concentrate resources only on the 2022 Formula 1 season, the year of the change of rules. The Portugal background was therefore the classic “item test”, useful for comparing the track data with the information from the simulator and wind tunnel. But it wasn’t intended for production. Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc had used it in turn, as the Maranello team brought only one copy. If we see it in the future it will be part of a larger package of updates. According to internal analyzes, it is not the only new flooring specification that can determine significant differences in performance (a piece of this value is certainly not worth two tenths of a second.)
After the setback in Portugal, Scuderia Ferrari is examining the reasons that caused the early degradation of the medium tires, especially those of Carlos Sainz, who finished eleventh due to an early pit stop in an attempt to overtake Lando Norris. Portimao on paper was a favorable track, but partly for technical reasons, partly for driver errors, very little was achieved. The goal is to go back to Barcelona, an easy track for the driver but very demanding for the car, a track that requires a little bit of everything: power, traction, handling. In short, balance. It is no coincidence that until last year it was the seat of the pre-season tests. It will be an important test for Ferrari.
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