that’s why the Ferrari F1 flies

The first and third place in qualifying in Bahrain confirm the excellence of the Cavallino project: the F1-75 responds to the modifications of the technicians and has a powerful engine. German world champions in trouble

The result of qualifying for the Bahrain GP provided a precise snapshot of the current level of competitiveness, on the flying lap, of the two cars. The pole position of Charles Leclerc was corroborated by the third place of Carlos Sainz, delayed having not yet definitively taken the measures of the F1-75. Ferrari confirmed to be the most balanced single-seater, with any type of compound, managing to hit the exact window of tire operating temperatures.

heights from the ground

The ground generated a very high load, such as to allow, during FP3, to try various adjustments of the front wing incidence, reducing it to favor speed on the straight without compromising performance in the mixed section of the track. The ability to play with the heights from the ground to find the correct combination of ground load, stability and bounce cancellation was made possible thanks to the aerodynamic concept of the F1-75, which is not critical. In a nutshell, just as for the tires there is an ideal window of operating temperatures, also for the set-up there is a sort of parameterization of the adjustments, that is to say the variation of the heights from the ground and the stiffness of the suspensions, as well as the incidence of the wings. .

the motor factor

The F1-75 allows this parameterization, that is to say at a certain setting you know what dynamic and aerodynamic performance is obtained. Basically the F1-75, arriving in a circuit can modify the parameters not in the dark, starting from an effective basic set-up. To this must be added the performance of the power unit 066/7 which proved to be the most powerful engine on this track, with no less than four units in the top seven positions. The power, the availability of charge for the entire lap seem in fact to place the engine of Maranello at the level of that of Red Bull.

the mercedes troubles

It is difficult to compare with that of Mercedes, as the overall performance of the car has certainly masked the potential of Brixworth’s power unit. The W13, in fact, from the first two test sessions, was unable to have an adequate balance, especially in the driven section of the circuit, with the rear end constantly tending to break down. The fund adopted, evolution of the one tried last week, did not represent a valid solution to the hopping. During FP3, the front end was raised, with the addition of shims, and the incidence of the front wing was greatly increased, to improve reactivity in the mixed, but at the expense of straight-line smoothness. Ultimately, at the first performance check, the W13 appeared to be a still clumsy single-seater, where the management of the set-up is possible in a very narrow window of adjustments and track conditions, starting from the asphalt temperatures. A lot of development work awaits the Brackley technicians to rectify this situation, unusual for the eight-time world champion team.



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