Copying is not the right way, and the development path chosen by Ferrari is not the fastest, but according to their boss, they already clearly see how they can get close to Red Bull. Frédéric Wasser provided an interesting insight into their problems.
After two encouraging weekends came a disappointing weekend. It didn’t come as a surprise to Ferrari, as they knew in advance that Silverstone would be less of a favourite, than Canada or Austria. 9-10 o’clock there. Their ranking was still poor, but bad luck, some mistakes (in timekeeping) and tactical decisions also played a role in this.
According to team boss Frédéric Vasseur, they are aloof from Red Bull, but not in a very spectacular way. “The difference is smaller if we consider that in Jeddah we were still behind, but in Austria we were twenty seconds behind.” Italian male MotorsportsInterview specialist.
His words show that the situation in Maranello is not very encouraging, but he also tried to highlight that it is not always as straightforward as it often seems from the outside. He noted that outsiders always tend to criticize their strategy, while in Silverstone, for example, they were surprised by the fact that the tires, which wore out quickly on Friday, were able to handle the load well on Sunday. According to him, in this case, for example, it is worthwhile to knock on tire experts.
According to Vasseur, they also have “five or six” problems, which means that the situation is complicated. He noted, for example, that not only were they slow at the start of the year, but the human factor also played a large role in their weakness. And he does not want to blame competitors.
“It wasn’t just about performance, because something happened that also affected the confidence of the competitors. When you turn into a corner, you lose a lot from an aerodynamic point of view, and that also means a loss from a balance point of view. Because of this, you start to feel tight. The wind comes It’s small and it’s different from one lap to the next, and it’s not the same intensity, and that increases the difficulties. We don’t have a stable performance.”
“We lose a little bit on the drivers side every lap, because they never go in the same conditions and because of that they don’t trust the car. We need to focus more on the competitor. It’s not the easiest way, but it’s not even the fastest way to develop, because increasing downforce is easier. much.”
“Our performance is very different from weekend to weekend. In one Grand Prix we feel good, in another race it suddenly goes bad.” – painting a picture of what’s behind their ups and downs, which can be seen from race to race, but also during weekends.
Charles Leclerc (Photo: XPB)McLaren’s success at Silverstone has shown that it is possible to make huge leaps (at least on certain tracks) with a single development package during the year. According to Vasseur, meeting the needs of competitors is a more complicated process, and in addition, simply copying is not good for development.
“We try to improve the weaknesses, because this is the right approach, not imitating the other. The hardest part of this job is understanding the weaknesses and finding solutions to them. From this point of view, we have made good progress since Australia and then another progression from Barcelona, even if we still have vulnerabilities, especially in extreme conditions.”
Their innovations didn’t work in Spain at first, but that’s because they weren’t used properly. “Sometimes you publish a new package and you don’t have time to try it out. It’s hard to realize that you used it with the wrong settings. Maybe you expect to win a tenth and a half, but you lose one in the process because you don’t follow the correct setup. Therefore, after publishing the development, it is important to learn how to exploit it. And play Conditions also play a role in this, as we are still sensitive to the wind, especially when it is as strong as it was at Silverstone.”
Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc (Photo: XPB)According to Wasser, this is a very serious problem with the SF-23, which also makes it difficult for competitors. “The car is very sensitive when there is a crosswind. We are trying to improve this area, because we don’t have such difficulties with a headwind.”
Specialized feels we will see Ferrari’s best again in the two races before the summer break, the Hungarian Grand Prix and the Belgian Grand Prix. “We’re better at slow corners, at ninety-degree corners, than at extended corners. At least that’s how it’s been so far. We can hope for pole position, but the key will be the wind. And the spa could be more suitable for our car. There’s the bus stop, La Source, and there are two high-speed turns” – Looking forward to next weekend.
