Silverstone confirms itself as “fertile ground” on which to cultivate pages of Formula 1 history, in a weekend that will be remembered for the debut of the Sprint Qualifying format, for the contact between the two title contenders and for Hamilton’s comeback on a masterful Charles Leclerc in the final stages of the race. While leaving aside any considerations of a sporting nature on the dynamics of the accident between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, which will be covered and analyzed by others, s dedicated to the subject, the English weekend offered a real show thanks to the driving skills of individual drivers, but also stimulating ideas on the subject of technical plans.
Scuderia Ferrari was expecting a difficult weekend taking into consideration the characteristics of the track which were not very suitable for the SF21 car, but the Maranello team showed unexpected competitiveness on the British track. The praise for the team goes beyond the simple second place of Charles Leclerc, fighting for the victory until a few laps from the finish, considering that without the retirement of Verstappen and the penalty from Hamilton it would have been unlikely to think of an SF21 fighting for the victory. The merit of the Scuderia was that of having imposed itself on the center-group led by McLaren, putting itself in the best position to benefit from Red Bull’s double misstep.
The real feat of Ferrari consisted in having gained the second row on Friday with Charles Leclerc, confirmed on Saturday during the Sprint Qualifying, and subsequently maintaining a race pace on Sunday comparable to that of Mercedes, in the same conditions in which in the past, between tire wear and consumption management, the SF21 had shown signs of weakness. The Monegasque driver was in line with the performance of the Silver Arrows on medium tires in the first stint, and then suffered the recovery of Hamilton with the harder compounds, while at the same time managing to keep Valtteri Bottas’ W12 at a distance .
Charles Leclerc built an opportunity to grab success in the first stint, preventing Lewis Hamilton from taking the lead and flying off. The Monegasque took advantage of the SF21’s excellent traction and speed in the low-speed corners to keep the Englishman at a distance in Turns 3 and 4, thus facilitating defense on the long straight that leads to Brooklands. It is no coincidence that both Reds were among the fastest cars in the first sector throughout the weekend, taking advantage of the same qualities at low speeds that earned the Poles in Monaco and Baku. Unlike the previous rounds, however, at Silverstone the SF21 car raced with an updated floor and equipped with three additional vortex generators to improve the efficiency of underbody load. The same floor recalls the one used at the beginning of the season in Bahrain, with the difference of the presence of the Z cut introduced with the Imola specification.
Among the strengths of the Maranello team, as showed by the competitiveness expressed at Silverstone is the confirmation of another quality that emerged from the beginning of the season. It is the ability to get out on the track on Friday right away with a car in conditions close to its optimal potential, contrary to what happened in previous seasons, an even more decisive aspect in a weekend with only one free practice session available before cars entering the Parc Fermé rules. This dowry confirms the positive weekend preparation work carried out in the factory and attests to the effectiveness and representativeness of the virtual simulation tools, whose correlation with the track has been studied for a long time in the difficult 2020 season. Ferrari announced that the new simulator will be active from September, thus suggesting a reduced contribution of the new tool for the design of the 2022 single-seater. The validity of the simulation methodologies currently available is however an encouragement in view of the work on the next car.
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