SF21 fights very little wind

What Ferrari did we find in Portugal? The SF21 confirms the signs of growth shown by the Red Team in the first two races of the 2021 season in Portimavo. Thanks to Matteo Bobby’s technical staff we are able to show you telemetry data compared to Lewis Hamilton’s excellent fold. , Leader of the day with Mercedes at the second free training session, and fourth Carlos Science with the Ferrari SF21.

The first element to be highlighted is that Science achieved its performance with the modified funds brought to Alcarve, but this should be officially introduced in Spain.

Charles Leclerc had it in the morning and Monegasque took an excellent fourth place, while Spaniard did not cross the ninth place. A fourth and his teammate, who was born in Madrid at the right time, was in trouble, seventh in the afternoon and things turned upside down almost. There was a problem in the second round: the main wind was blowing in the opposite direction.

Science benefited from the high loads produced at the bottom of the car, while the LeClerk had to do the mixing while the technicians found the expected speeds straight when the wings decided to die.

So one would say that the new solution works, perhaps, with the regret that one rider cannot use it without harming the other, knowing that there will not even be an alternative.

The map we publish illustrates a series of interesting data to read: Champion Epta’s Mercedes was 360 thousand faster than the Red. The gap is smaller than usual, but what is interesting is that the Ferrari in the T1 left 26,000 for the black arrow and only the 16,000 for the Louis W12 in the D3 Science car agreed. Two-thirds of the Trivia route was made up of ups and downs, in the guided section, D2, the strongest gap came out: at 269 thousand.

Then, two obvious considerations emerge: first, the SF21’s 065/6 engine has been pushed back, to the extent that it proposes a red back, which has the potential to create a nice look, surpassing Hamilton. Slightly; Second, Ferrari has chosen a light aerodynamic system specifically for direct combat against the wind. This allows for interesting high speeds, but then forces the Cavallino Riders to take risks while driving.

Since we can not tell you that the respective engine mapping is stored more or less at maximum power, one would think that they were looking for an antidote at Maranello, but tomorrow we should see a more consistent red color in behavior.

Because Ferrari showed good qualities at high speeds, it seemed to have a defect at lower mileage corners with very clear differences compared to the Mercedes: 7 km / h at the 11th turn, which drops to 5 km / h at the 13th and 14th turns.

Therefore, it is easy to predict that we will see two more charged reds tomorrow in qualifying, because cars have a tendency to slip, especially with a soft combination, making significant tire wear.

The secret is to find the right compromise to avoid being overtaken straight, while at the same time improving behavior in sudden changes in the direction of this deflection lane. Finding the right alchemy is not easy, but Ferrari, despite its difficulties, has been able to rise to become the third force of the stage, approaching with two excellent teams.

One thing is for sure: deceiving oneself and thinking big is still the beginning, but the symptoms are positive …