Why Ferrari won't make big changes at Imola

The first European round of the season has often been the meeting chosen by the teams to make the first big changes. This year, Imola will be the scene of the first race on the Old Continent with the now named Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix (April 22-24). So the opportunity for the teams to use their new elements? Not for everyone obviously like Ferrari who prefers to wait a little longer.

All the ingredients seem to come together for the Scuderia to offer Charles Leclerc et Carlos Sainz an evolved version of the F1-75 to continue their march forward. Unfortunately, the weekend schedule does not allow him to do so, or at least not to do so in ideal conditions. Imola will indeed host the first Sprint round of the season, which thwarts Ferrari's plans to integrate new parts into its car.

With only one practice session before qualifying and the last two days of the weekend taking place under Parc Fermé, the Italian team would then only have 60 minutes to try out its new elements before having to make a final choice. for the rest of the meeting. A complex situation for the Reds who would prefer a traditional weekend with three test sessions in order to have as much data as possible to study and thus know if the new parts are satisfactory.

« Imola is not the right weekend to make changes to the car, recognized Mattia Binotto, Ferrari team principal, after the Australian round. We decided not to bring anything significant. We are working on porpoising as it had a small impact on performance in Melbourne. If we have something ready, we will try it during the test session. » But there is no question of reducing the pace as the Scuderia is leading the hostilities among the Drivers and the Manufacturers, and in style.

« We are confident in our ability to develop the car, underlines Carlos Sainz always very careful. We already have parts that are being tested in the wind tunnel, and a car in the wind tunnel that is better than the one we have on the track right now – like all the teams. But we continue to say that Red Bull et Mercedes are the favorites, because we have not been in the fight for the title in recent years. Ferrari has even been surpassed recently so we are always very careful because we know we have developed a very good car. However, both of these teams have been in title contention over the last two or three years, so they know how to find improvement and what they need to do to get there. For our part, we perhaps lack a little experience. I think we have great people, and we're prepared, but we're being cautious and waiting a little bit to see what happens. »

It is therefore without major improvements that Ferrari will present itself at Imola for the first reproduction of the F1 on European soil. Be careful that this decision is not reflected in a drop in performance on the track against Red Bull among others.

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