Spanish GP analysis: inefficient downforce kills Ferrari

Spanish GP analysis: inefficient downforce kills Ferrari – report. Spanish GP analysis.

AMuS report:

Mercedes has taken revenge for the defeat at Silverstone and is again the top dog in the district. Scuderia Ferrari loses its third place to Racing Point and McLaren. Race tracks that require efficient downforce are very difficult for the Maranello team.

This has been the case most of the time since 2014, with Mercedes taking a defeat and then striking back all the more cruelly. The GP Spain was again fully in the hands of the Silver Arrows. Seven-tenths of a lead in practice, 24 seconds in the race. Makes an advantage of 0.15 seconds per kilometer. Despite the heat, despite the fast corners. The hardest rubber compounds from Pirelli and civilian tyre pressures certainly helped, but Mercedes also stopped the mistakes from Silverstone. The cars were mercilessly trimmed to maximum downforce and perfectly balanced.

In the end Mercedes not only drove faster lap times than Red Bull, but also took better care of his tyres. Red Bull was rather rudely reminded that the Silver Arrows can only be beaten if five accidents occur at once. And this was not the case in Barcelona. There, downforce was not a tyre killer, but the best life insurance. Red Bull makes its RB16 more drivable from race to race, but the challenger’s package simply lacks speed. And the gap can’t be closed overnight.

McLaren beats Renault
In the chasing pack the result is much less predictable than at the top. The picture changes from track to track, sometimes even from day to day. This time Racing Point was the king. No big surprise if the car’s role model is already so strong. Scuderia Ferrari, on the other hand, slid down to fifth place. A track like the Circuit de Catalunya which demands efficient downforce is good for Racing Point and bad for Ferrari. The same can be said about McLaren and Renault. McLaren passed Ferrari, Renault dropped back to the end of the queue.

The yellow-black cars even took a beating from Alpha Tauri. They are only ahead of Red Bull’s B-team because the overall impression of the first six races speaks a little bit more for Renault. Between Haas, Alfa Romeo and Williams, on the other hand, there is a race within a race. On Friday it still looked as if Haas could make it to the midfield on his parade circuit. But from Saturday on there was not much suitable for the US team. Alfa Romeo was at the top of this group with one car. Looking at the overall picture, the Haas VF-20 has more potential than its Swiss rival. Williams experienced a small setback in Barcelona. Power Ranking GP Spain

Here is our Power Ranking in a quick overview. As always, you can find the detailed form check of all ten teams in the gallery.