After several difficult years, Ferrari has fought back to the top of Formula 1 and is now enjoying its most competitive season in years.
In Bahrain, the Scuderia celebrated a double victory with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. In Saudi Arabia, the two only had to admit defeat to Max Verstappen.
Scuderia has built what is clearly the team’s best car since the SF71H driven by Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen in 2018. Vettel won five races in the first half of the season. After the summer break, however, Ferrari was unable to keep up with World Cup rivals Mercedes.
A similar scenario played out in 2017, when Vettel led the championship after the first twelve races, only to fall behind Hamilton after the summer.
However, Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto believes the team is better off than it was four years ago and has the right tools to maintain its pace of development throughout the season.
Big “challenge” for Ferrari and Co. in Formula 1
“I think it’s a challenge not only for us but for all teams to maintain the level of development over a season,” says the Italian. “But it’s true that our competitors are very strong in this area.”
“They have proven to be very strong, while we as Ferrari lost a little ground in development on the last two opportunities we had in 2017 and 2018,” Binotto admits, looking at the missed title chances.
“I think we’ve improved our car design tools, that is, the wind tunnel methods, the processes and the simulator. And I think we’re much better prepared today than in the past to also be able to use the right ones in development to get the job done,” the team leader continues.
Budget limit requires carefully considered updates
At the same time, Binotto concedes that F1’s budget cap means teams can’t afford to research every development that comes to mind, instead they need to take a more targeted approach in finding the right upgrades to make it happen to make it by the end of 2022.
“Compared to back then, we have a budget cap that will affect the pace of development. I think that’s an important point, a key element,” said Binotto.
“My concern is that we have to make sure we have the right control over it because that can be a crucial factor in the battle for developments. It will therefore be several races before Ferrari will bring the first major updates to its F1-75 , the Italian looks ahead.
“I think it’s not just a question of when we’re going to be ready, but also – as I said – a question of budget caps to make sure we don’t spend everything we have in the first few races. We expect So no big developments for the next race in Melbourne, but as soon as we can bring something we certainly will.”