Analysing the strengths and weaknesses of McLaren and Ferrari’s cars at the start of the new Formula 1 season – and their respective prospects at this weekend’s Emilia-Romagna GP – as one of Formula 1’s most famous rivalries looks poised to be renewed this year
Those old foes Ferrari and McLaren look set to renew their historic battles this season, even though they remain adrift of the Mercedes/Red Bull contest out front.
All we have to go on so far is one race in Bahrain but that opening event did offer some crucial clues in how the two oldest teams on the grid are set to compare this season: Ferrari with its upgraded power unit and improved aerodynamics, McLaren with its switch to Mercedes horsepower and its narrow nose concept.
Who’ll have the edge in Italy?
This weekend we move onto Imola which is an even more power-sensitive track than Sakhir and which again defines the key limitation as the rear of the car, not the front. So we might well see a very similar comparison between the orange car and the red one, though passing at Imola is usually more difficult than at Bahrain and so the advantage of qualifying ahead is potentially greater.
But looking ahead to the rest of the season, more of the tracks are front-limited than rear. Ferrari may well fancy their chances at Portimao and Barcelona, for example. Relative to McLaren, that is. But that struggle may not even be for ‘best of the rest’ – because the AlphaTauri was potentially better than either at Bahrain, but that potential was disguised by Pierre Gasly’s collision with the back of Ricciardo early in the race, and in qualifying by Yuki Tsunoda’s doomed attempt at getting through Q2 on the medium tyres.
Encouraging though the early signs are for Ferrari in its recovery from its dismal 2020, around Imola it may not even be the fastest Italian car…
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