The setup changes made by Ferrari to avoid tyre issues | 2021 Styrian GP. Setup changes made by Ferrari to avoid tyre issues.

Scuderia Ferrari has learned the Paul Ricard lesson. Championship points are not won on Saturday after qualifying, but at the checkered flag on Sunday. Having seen the two Reds out of the ten in France prompted the Maranello team to change their approach for the Styrian GP.

Already in free practice on Friday it became clear that the Scuderia’s technicians had worked harder to gather useful information in the race long runs, rather than looking for the ideal set-up for the flying lap.

Focusing on this philosophy, the goal was to save the tires by giving up something in terms of performance, to find greater consistency over the course of a long run, avoiding overheating the tires after a few laps, due to a car that slipped too much.

The seventh place on the grid by Charles Leclerc, read in this light, is not too negative, considering that the Red Bull Ring is more suited to the characteristics of the McLaren and the AlphaTauri rather than the SF21, but in the plans studied at the table the Monegasque should have been fifth, behind the two elusive top teams (Red Bull and Mercedes).

Qualifying, on the other hand, highlighted a vulnerable Ferrari not only for Lando Norris’s McLaren but also for Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri. The gap measured on the track was big: 352 thousandths from the MCL35M and 236 thousandths from the AlphaTauri.

The Maranello technicians may have exaggerated to load the SF21 which then failed to express the necessary maximum speeds: Charles and Carlos reached the speed trap at 309.8 km / h, revealing themselves to be the slowest in the paddock, while the couple of drivers from Woking was the fastest with 317.8 km / h for Daniel Ricciardo and 317.7 km / h for Lando Norris. The difference was 8.9 km / h, really a lot of terms of a flying lap, and it dropped to 5.5 km / h in comparison with the AT02.

It may be enlightening to remember that Antonio Giovinazzi, with the same 065/6 engine of Ferrari, reached 317.3 km / h with the Alfa Romeo C41, resulting in the third fastest on the grid right after the “papaya” cars. It is all too evident, therefore, that in order to avoid tire degradation in Maranello they exaggerated the aerodynamic set-up that was too loaded, on the other hand exceeding the choices made at Le Castellet.

Having taken them soundly in qualifying does not mean, however, going out with broken bones at the end of the race. Indeed, in case of rain a too conservative choice on the wings could prove to be good.

The loaded configuration highlighted the power gap that still exists with the Mercedes power unit mounted on the McLaren and also on the Honda engine used in Faenza. The MCL35M showed along the three Spilberg straights to have an excellent engine, but also a good aerodynamic efficiency which, however, remained hidden on the black arrow in the challenge with the Red Bull RB16B, due to the Mercedes having to sacrifice power for more resistant wings. .

On paper, the “papaya” should be impregnable during the GP, much faster on the straights, while in the lower speed runs the SF21 seems to defend itself better.

The key to the reading, however, will be the race pace: if Charles Leclerc will be able to get a great start (avoiding last year’s contact with his then-mate Sebastian Vettel …), Ferrari doesn’t necessarily have to suffer the pace of his opponents, because in the mini long runs of free practice the SF21 showed good adaptability with all the compounds chosen by Pirelli.

Norris, Gasly and Charles Leclerc will form a package to be the first of the “others”, while Tsunoda (relegated three positions on the grid for blocking Bottas in a fast lap), Carlos Sainz and Ricciardo will be part of a second group in the middle of the grid. In each of the two blocks important battles will be played that can be worth several points.

McLaren has a “treasure” of 16 lengths to manage in the Constructors’ World Championship over Ferrari, but the Maranello team has no intention of giving up the battle. The important thing is that the engineers understand why the SF21 is able to defend itself with the DRS closed, while it appears to be inefficient with the mobile wing open.

The open flap obviously does not give that jump in speed that one would expect from the DRS, a sign that the Scuderia must play its game with a good strategy, focusing on the duration of the tires that should work in the right operating window, rather than on the overtaking. It will be a very tactical race, in which Ferrari, even if it seems unsuccessful, does not necessarily mean that it cannot give its fans some surprises …