The high rear tyre wear worries the Scuderia Ferrari technicians: the SF21 that took to the track in Bahrain suffered from high-degradation in long runs due to overheating. In Maranello they worked more in the diffuser area than on the floor where much more conservative solutions were seen at Mercedes, Aston Martin and Red Bull.
Ferrari continues to work on the SF21: the Maranello technicians are testing solutions developed by David Sanchez, head of aerodynamics, to recover the downforce lost due to the regulatory restrictions approved by the FIA. The rules have limited the width of the flaps that protrude from the brake duct below the wheel axis: they can no longer exceed 40 mm, producing a loss of vertical thrust.
And, then, in Maranello they looked for ways to regain the aerodynamic load with solutions that are not the brake grips: on the side of the rear wheel, there are three vertical shark-fin-shaped strips.
They are not only used to control the “tire squirt”, the turbulence caused by the deformations of the rubber, but also to regain some vertical thrust with the blowing of the three bulkheads, a sign that there is a research work that has been finalized more in that area of the single-seater and on the floor where more primordial solutions were observed than those seen on Mercedes and Aston Martin.
These teams presented very borderline solutions in the interpretation of the rules on the floor with showy “lips” in the trailing edge (Aston Martin) or with the numerous “shells” (Mercedes), useful for reproducing the downforce that was ensured by the “pneumatic skirts “.
Ferrari, which today has been working on medium compound tyres with Charles Leclerc in the morning session, lacks rear load and the rear tires suffer from high wear due to overheating which determines an increase in performance significantly higher than the other teams in the middle of the group.
The indications that emerge from the tests in Bahrain are not too comforting with a less brilliant SF21 than expected, despite an engine much more competitive than last year’s.
On a flying lap, the SF21 seems able to compete with its rivals, but Ferrari needs to focus and improve the race pace.
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