FERRARI SLOWER IN TESTS THAN 2019

This table shows Ferrari’s dilemma!

Six days of test drives in Barcelona are over – the next test is scheduled for March 13th in Melbourne. The teams completed a total of 7,744 laps – this corresponds to almost 36,050 kilometers on the Circuit de Catalunya.

And: All teams improved in terms of best lap times, only two teams didn’t: Alpha Tauri and Ferrari!

Of course, bluffing is always part of winter testing. Amount of gasoline carried, engine program, tires, etc., all these are variables that the opponents can only guess. In addition, the track in Barcelona was slower in the second week because the conditions were worse. And: In 2019 Ferrari already unpacked everything during their winter testing. This time was different.

Nevertheless, extrapolations from the competition see Ferrari around 0.5 seconds behind Mercedes and around 0.3 behind Red Bull. Charles Leclerc was only 0.164 short of the day’s fastest lap done by Valtteri Bottas done on the last day of testing. But Mercedes had throttled the engine as a precaution after the damage the day before.

The appearance of team boss Mattia Binotto on Friday also fits into the whole picture. The Italian confessed like a schoolboy to his parents: “We won’t have a winning car in Melbourne.” He emphasized: “We didn’t hide anything with our engine. That is our real potential.”

Ferrari didn’t bluff. Because, according to Binotto, quite logically: “That would only increase the pressure.”

“WE DON’T PLAY A GAME AND ARE AS GOOD AS WE EXPECTED. APPARENTLY, OTHERS HAVE MADE MORE PROGRESS OVER THE WINTER. I CAN CONFIRM THAT WE DON’T HAVE THE FASTEST CAR IN THE FIELD. THAT IS AN HONEST ASSESSMENT. WE WILL ONLY KNOW HOW FAR BEHIND WE ARE AFTER THREE RACES. ”

Mattia Binotto

On a scale from 0 to 10, Binotto rates the achievement of the test goals with an 8, but the lap times on the track with “less than 6”.

So where does Ferrari really stand as of today and where does it need to improve? Binotto: “We are now faster in the corners, but slower on the straights. We still have to improve, especially in qualifying trim. We are one lap further behind than a race distance. ”

The Italian explained the reasons as follows: “We found good downforce, unfortunately at the expense of wind resistance. In addition, our engine is not as good as last year. ” Binotto justified the horsepower deficit with concerns about reliability.

Alone: ​​Since the ominous FIA press release, it has also been clear that the Scuderia had to downgrade the drive. According to information available to F1-insider.com, around 50 hp are therefore missing compared to the previous year. At least that’s what the competition suspects based on GPS data. Binotto stubbornly denied that the engine unit wasn’t fully turned on.

After all: Ferrari is in second place behind Mercedes in the rankings in terms of lap times.

All test statistics can be found here:

Translated by David Schneider