Ferrari, change. Objective Suzuka: to unleash the SF-25

Now or never. Ferrari this weekend is preparing to return to the track in Suzuka, less than two weeks after the disastrous double disqualification of Shanghai. The Grand Prix of Japan will be the first appointment of a hat -trick that will substantially determine the trend of the championship and the Maranello team will have the opportunity to store the terrible beginning of the season as a false departure to be forgotten quickly.

Ups and downs

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In China the SF-25 had shown its potential only in the Sprint qualification and in the Saturday races, in which Hamilton conquered pole position and victory. A performance that, at the level of detachment, had relegated herd to six seconds and eight tenths and Verstappen at nine and a half seconds in just 19 laps. A very far away from the results obtained by Ferrari in the following days, both in qualifying and in the race. As Australia had already highlighted, the SF-25 has proven critically sensitive to variations of height from the ground, in fact by triggering as a consequence a substantial loss of load generated by the car fund, but not only. It was the global performance of the SF-25 that was strongly conditioned by the prepared and race structure by taking into consideration the load of petrol that would have been embarked on Sunday. Loic Serra had returned to Maranello immediately after Melbourne’s weekend with the intention of analyzing the possible solutions in the short term.

Positive sides

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Despite the difficult seasonal beginning, Maranello’s technicians are convinced that there are no problems related to the basic concepts of the SF-25 on the chassis and aerodynamic front. According to the data of the simulations in view of Suzuka, the reds would have the potential to be competitive on one of the most probable and technical circuits of the calendar. The problem encountered on the car would therefore be a mix between the mechanical response to the suspension level and the aerodynamic criticality on the rear. It is therefore not only the height from the ground to determine a performance loss, but also an inaccurate response of the retrotrene, which prevents the fund from generating the necessary extraction of the air flow from the diffuser. To solve the problem in the simulations, about twenty adjustments have been tried to determine the optimal base for the single -seater that will take to the track in Japan.

Restart

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In Suzuka, Maranello’s technicians will not introduce aerodynamic changes outside the normal adaptation to the medium load track, but the suspension adjustments will follow a different combination between the front and retrotre compared to what is adopted in the first two races. Not to further evaluate the behavior of the SF-25, but because in Maranello they would be convinced that these countermeasures will already be able to free the potential of the car. Instead, the introduction of a revised and correct version of the current fund is scheduled for Bahrain, next week, precisely in the booting section at the base of the diffuser. Not a large package but an anticipation of what would be scheduled for the race weekend in Miami in early May. The expectations, despite the difficult start of the season, for Ferrari’s technicians remain high and the trust in the project is the same as the world beginning. However, errors will no longer be admitted to Suzuka.