After tests Ferrari with worries

Kevin Magnussen crashed into the course boundary after a flat tire. Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto sees Mercedes and Red Bull ahead.

It was actually clear: The first week of testing in Barcelona also ended in 2020 with a Mercedes best time: Valtteri Bottas rounded the 4.655 km course in 1: 15.732 minutes on the softest mixture. The other teams didn’t even make it into 1:17 …

Mercedes seems to be the class leader again in 2020, not least because of the steering trick “DAS”.

Ferrari, on the other hand, has had a disappointing test week. After less than 1400 kilometers of mileage, engine damage to Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari SF1000 appeared today.

The first Ferrari engine only managed 294 laps – this corresponds to approximately 1368 kilometers. Or to put it another way: after around four race distances, the engine came on.

This is too little. There are three engines available per driver and year, which means that there is a minimum of seven-race distances in 22 World Cup races. On top of that, there are also the kilometers in the training and qualifying sessions.

Of course, it is too early to speak of a fundamental problem at Ferrari. But the fact is: To fix the problem of the lack of downforce in 2019, Ferrari made the racing car much more compact. The inlets on the side boxes are smaller, which means the boxes are drawn in even more. For this to work, Ferrari had to increase cooling efficiency.

The Scuderia has worries and also admits it.

The first Ferrari engine only managed 294 laps – this corresponds to approximately 1,368 kilometers. Or to put it another way: after around four race distances, the engine blew up.

This is too little. There are three engines available per driver and year, which means that there is a minimum of seven-race distances in 22 World Cup races. On top of that, there are also the kilometers in the training and qualifying sessions.

Of course, it is too early to speak of a fundamental problem at Ferrari. But the fact is: To fix the problem of the lack of downforce in 2019, Ferrari made the racing car much more compact. The inlets on the side boxes are smaller, which means the boxes are drawn in even more. For this to work, Ferrari had to increase cooling efficiency.

Red Bull sees itself as the first chaser of Mercedes. The midfield appears to be led by the Mercedes copy Racing Point.

On the third day of testing, there was also the first accident of the year. After a flat tire, Kevin Magnussen turned into the gravel bed and crashed into the pile of tires with the rear of his Haas Ferrari. Nothing happened to the driver, but the team had to end the test week early.

Times test day 3:

Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) – 1m15.732s – C5 compound – 65 laps
Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) – 1m16.516s – C5 compound – 73 laps
Esteban Ocon (Renault) – 1m17.102s – (C4) compound – 76 laps
Lance Stroll (Racing Point) – 1m17.338s – (C4) compound – 116 laps
Daniil Kvyat (AlphaTauri) – 1m17.427s – (C4) compound – 62 laps
Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo) – 1m17.469s – C5 compound – 152 laps
Daniel Ricciardo (Renault) – 1m17.574s – (C4) compound – 93 laps
Max Verstappen (Red Bull) – 1m17.636s – (C2) compound – 86 laps
Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri) – 1m17.783s – (C4) compound – 59 laps
Alexander Albon (Red Bull) – 1m18.154s – (C2) compound – 83 laps
Carlos Sainz (McLaren) – 1m18.274s – (C2) compound – 76 laps
Romain Grosjean (Haas) – 1m18.380s – (C3) compound – 48 laps
Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) – 1m18.384s – (C3) compound –  100 laps
Lando Norris (McLaren) – 1m18.454s – (C3) compound – 49 laps
Nicholas Latifi (Williams) – 1m19.004s – (C3) compound – 72 laps
Kevin Magnussen (Haas) – 1m19.709s – (C2) compound – 4 laps