With new technical regulations on the horizon for 2022 and development limited by the chassis freeze last year, the most successful team of all time was able to focus on getting back to basics. She has made impressive progress in all areas, moving from sixth to third place in the constructors’ championship, scoring almost 200 more points than in 2020, with two pole positions and five podiums as a result.
Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc placed fifth and seventh among drivers, registering 17 double points finishes in 22 Grands Prix. The only time Ferrari did not score, it was in France, with tire management problems. But the statistics that prove the Scuderia is on an upward slope go beyond these basic numbers.
Regardless of Ferrari’s lack of pace in 2020, its racing performance was one of its weaknesses. The team had even acknowledged that his stops at the booth were “far from the best”, handicapped all season long by a problem related to the nuts used.
In 2020, only 48% of Scuderia’s pit stops were below three seconds, the benchmark used by the team to define a good tire change. One stable did worse. But in 2021, that rate rose to 73%, placing Ferrari third in the hierarchy. Average downtime decreased from 2.72 seconds to 2.55 seconds.
“We have carried out a huge program to try to turn the situation around, both on the car, because it has technical elements that have brought results, and among the mechanics, with the training and the methodology that we use”, explains Laurent Mekies, sports director.
“Now, by those criteria, we’re third – and not by accident: we’re third in the championship. I think that’s a good representation of how behind-the-scenes work leads to better execution, and that s ‘applies to many things: pit stops, tire management, race strategy … “
Pit stop for Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
While the team did not necessarily fight for victory or the championship last year, Ferrari has dealt with its battle with McLaren for third place overall as his own fight for the title. The two teams were evenly matched throughout the year, but a fine end to the season gave Scuderia third place by 47.5 points.
“When a battle is tight like that in the championship, when the smallest point is worth a lot, the execution must be optimal, that is the key”, continues Mekies. “This year there was no excuse. And therefore for us, although the car was not as fast as we would like, we have treated this battle as if it was for the world title. . “
Sainz noticed the need to improve race execution as soon as he arrived at Maranello from McLaren, a team which itself has groomed away from the front lines in recent years. “For me it was something very important”, he tells Motorsport.com. “When I got into the team at the start of the season, I really felt like we needed to make some progress in the way we were running the race in terms of strategy and tire management. The first races were very difficult on that side. “
“I’ve really felt solid progress on that over the season. The car was maybe a little bit better, but not more than a tenth better than at the start of the season. You can see how we are. become constant in the execution of the races, it has nothing to do with the beginning. “
An average gap that is narrowing
The improvement in race operations is also evident from the improved reliability of the Scuderia, which has gone from six retirements in 2020 to just one in 2021 (plus Leclerc’s failure to start in Monaco following his crash in qualifying), with also more top 10 arrivals than any other team.
But it was the pure pace of the Ferrari that was to take a step forward following the disastrous 2020 campaign. Not only did the team manage to climb to the front of the midfield, taking third place in the championship, but she also narrowed the gap on Mercedes. According to his data, the average gap over Mercedes in qualifying fell from 1.34 seconds in 2020 to 0.64 seconds in 2021. The deficit was even only four tenths at the start of the year, before grow gradually.
Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) is ahead of Lando Norris (McLaren) and Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
“We are fully aware that we have not closed the gap on the best, and six tenths is still a lot”, recognizes Mattia Binotto, team manager. “But the goal was to try to narrow that gap. We were keenly aware of the situation in 2020, and I think being realistic it was impossible to close the gap.”
Ferrari’s gains in race pace were smaller, but there were still signs of good progress: the average gap with Mercedes fell from 1.1 seconds per lap to eight tenths. According to Binotto, this “remains a significant difference“, but the Italian points out that Ferrari did not develop its single-seater much last year, focusing on 2022.
“It shows that we haven’t really developed our car like maybe others. I think in terms of pure design and development during the winter what has been achieved is the passage of 1, 3 to 0.4 seconds Later in the season, the gap widened because at Ferrari we have chosen to focus fully on 2022, with the exception of the power unit. It also shows in the numbers showing that we are closing the competitive gap. “
All of this is encouraging for the Scuderia as they prepare for the new 2022 regulations. They have proven their ability to gain ground in the offseason and sharpen their guns, otherwise boasting one of the best duos in the world. pilots. The challenge is now for Ferrari to make the winter perfect in order to take advantage of the new regulations and fight Mercedes and Red Bull once more.
