Already for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix held this weekend (@bakucitycuricuit)
Ferrari announced new updates. Will they help Vettel?
Ferrari gets ready for the Grand Prix in Baku this weekend, and they are taking it up a notch! Usually, the teams don’t present significant updates until the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona. Ferrari, however, brought new parts for a completely renewed car 14 days earlier.
Ferrari Updates for Baku 2019
In Baku, the “new” SF90H is supposed to help, to finally get the first win of the season after three failed attempts. “We bring a few updates to Baku,” confirms team principal Mattia Binotto (49). “This is the first step in a development program for the SF90.”
Binotto also provided the reason why the new aerodynamic package is coming sooner than expected: “After the first three races definitely didn’t go as we wanted, this Grand Prix is another important moment for us,” – “We have prepared very well.” Thus, Ferrari which has never won the Azerbaijan GP after three runs has found areas for improvement including engine management.
Sebastian Vettel hopes that the redesigned SF90H will be the car that he felt so comfortable with at the winter tests in Barcelona earlier this year. To his surprise, in the first three races, his Ferrari tended to oversteer – and it’s precisely this unexpected behavior that Vettel doesn’t like – a light rear end that tends to break out.
To bring out the full potential of the car the Heppenheimer needs a stable rear axle. Unlike his teammate Charles Leclerc (21) who explains: “We have different riding styles.” In other words, an oversteering Ferrari suits Leclerc’s suits him.
Vettel’s red diva, on the other hand, with that “shakey butt” has been a negative influence in his campaign to win the world title for the first time with Ferrari. After three races, the German is still without a victory and is already 31 points behind Lewis Hamilton who leads the championship right now.
But leader Hamilton himself is not sure of his rival’s current weakness. Hence he still believes in Vettel’s and Ferrari’s strength and explains: “Ferrari has a good car, they just don’t get everything out of it.”
In any case, Ferrari, Vettel and his boss Mattia Binotto are already under enormous pressure, especially from the Italian press. “That was also the case during my time,” explains F1 Managing Director Ross Brawn. Ferrari’s former leader at the time of Michael Schumacher recalls: “When I walked through the airport in Bologna, I was either abused or praised – that’s not happening anywhere else in the world – Ferrari just has to keep working.”
*This article was first published in German at autobild.de/motorsport.
