The good news for Ferrari is that the extensive upgrade package for Bahrain apparently works. The bad: it is far from enough to seriously challenge McLaren.
So far there have been only a few upgrades, and only a few teams brought innovations on the fourth race weekend in Bahrain. In this regard, Ferrari was ahead – with an extensive package, which includes a revision of the underbody from the front edge to the underbody fences to the diffuser at the rear.
The innovations helped Charles Leclerc to reach fourth place in second training session – at eye level with George Russell’s Mercedes and before Max Verstappen in the Red Bull. Nevertheless, he was still half a second behind the leading McLaren from Oscar Piatri.
Lewis Hamilton was a bit further back as a eighth, but is confident about the new underbody that was available to him: “The upgrades definitely work,” says the seven -time world champion. “A big thank you to everyone at home who worked so hard to bring these upgrades – that is never easy.”
Hamilton: “Upgrades definitely work”
“There is a lot of work in the wind tunnel and a lot of effort in the manufacture and assembly of these sub -floors. It is therefore nice to see that we are making progress. Now it’s about getting out more. I hope that we can take the right steps overnight.”
The focus of the British is mainly on consistency: “We try to bring the rounds together, to have a car that is easy to drive and stay constant across the round,” he says.
“At the moment it is still a bit unbalanced between slow, medium and high pace – as so often. So we try to refine the whole thing, read a little and ensure that we have a good pace on the longruns. This is where it is particularly important here,” said Hamilton.
Leclerc: McLaren on other planets
In view of the usual fog to free training on Friday, Red Bull’s performance must be considered with a good dose of caution. It is undeniable, however, that McLaren is significantly ahead – even if the team itself wants to downplay its advantage on the hot and aggressive bahrain course.
“We are just not fast enough. If we look at McLaren – they are just on another planet at the moment,” sighs Leclerc. “It’s annoying, but that’s how it is. And it actually motivates me to close this gap as soon as possible. They are incredibly fast.”
“[Die Upgrades] are positive, but unfortunately the distance to McLaren is still big. We have to exhaust the potential of the car we currently have. If that means to be third, fourth or fifth – I don’t know what it will be in the end, then we have to accept it, “said the Monegasse.
At some point the fastest car again
He hopes that Ferrari will “have the fastest car on the track at some point”. “Then it is again about getting the maximum out of the car – but for victories, no longer just for third place.”
Leclerc continues to expect Verstappen to be the closest pursuer of the Papaya cars, but believes that Ferrari and Mercedes lie closely together. “With Mercedes we seem to be pretty much at eye level. With Red Bull it is a bit more difficult,” he says.
“I think Max had one less tire set in FT2 than we do, so it is probably a bit ahead of us. But there is still performance on our website if we use the car and the upgrade optimally – and then we see where we are tomorrow.”