For Scuderia Ferrari, the outcome of the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix did not confirm the true potential which the SF21 car had Jeddah Corniche Circuit, with only a P7 for Charles Leclerc, who finished just ahead of his teammate Carlos Sainz. However, for the Maranello team the best news emerged mainly from two key factors: the new simulator and the power unit upgrade.
The ‘Dynisma’ simulator is already providing much better results as compared to the previous one, which could be seen by the calibration work thanks to the ‘spider’ which is always active. Ferrari prepared for the Jeddah Corniche Circuit and the Yas Marina circuit using the new simulator and on the brand-new Jeddah circuit, it must be highlighted how the basic set-up used on both cars was already excellent from the first free practice session.
The second key aspected is represented by the new hybrid system. The Italian side decided to use maximum battery output in Sector 3 – the fastest one – compensating well for the rather loaded (and better suited for the first sector) wing configuration as compared to Mercedes, but also Red Bull. As a result, the Maranello team was able to make the tyre work much more efficiently, as could be seen in the qualifying session for the Saudi Arabian event.
For Ferrari the most important thing is that the new hybrid represents an excellent base for the power unit which will be used in the 2022 Formula 1 season and this was the Maranello team’s main purpose for the final part of the current championship. We have the confirmation that the ICE does not have a high degradation rate, but for the moment the engine still lacks quite a few HP as compared to Lewis Hamilton’s super-fast Power Unit and, albeit to a lesser extent, Honda too. However, the upgrade on Ferrari’s fourth Power Unit of the season was enough to create a gap to McLaren (Mercedes customers use their Power Units in a much more conservative way) rather quickly, allowing the drivers of the SF21 to fight right behind the duo of Mercedes and Red Bull.
Scuderia Ferrari is now well ahead of rivals McLaren in the fight for third place in the Formula 1 Constructor Standings: the Maranello team has an advantage of 38,5 points and only a chaotic and unfortunate Formula 1 race in Abu Dhabi could lead to Ferrari losing third place. The target at the start of the season is close to being achieved and Ferrari Maranello deserves credit for their work.
As already planned, the Power Unit will be pushed again in the final round of the 2021 Formula 1 championship at the Yas Marina circuit. The recent track changes will most likely not favour the SF21 car: the slow corners, where agility and traction – the SF21’s best known features – are required were indeed replaced by high and medium speed corners.
Yas Marina will be the conclusion of a long, bitter and exciting 2021 Formula 1 season: the end of the story between our Antonio Giovinazzi (who finally scored some good points last weekend) and Alfa Romeo, as well as the end of an era with Kimi Raikkonen’s retirement from Formula 1 coinciding with the last race we will see from these cars.
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