Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto says the team has successfully addressed the main weakness of last year’s car with its new design for the 2021 F1 season.
Speaking at the team’s 2021 season launch, at which the new SF21 was not presented, Binotto said simulations of its revised aerodynamics and new power unit indicate it will be much quicker on the straights than its predecessor.“I think that last year the main issue was the speed on the straight lines,” said Binotto. “Not only the power but both power and drag.
“We’ve worked a lot both on the power unit and the car aerodynamics to reduce the drag of the car. And based on our simulations today, based on what we can see in terms of power output from the dynos and the drag of the car from the wind tunnel, I think that we’ve recovered quite a lot of speed on the straight lines. So I’m expecting the speed not to be such an issue as it was.”
Ferrari is due to launch its new car on March 10th, two days before pre-season testing begins at the Bahrain International Circuit.
“We hope to be competitive but we will know it only when being in Bahrain,” said Binotto. “I think it’s always relative to what the others are doing.
“But we believe our car is certainly more efficient compared to the one we had last year, and when I am saying efficient it is again from the aero point of view and the power unit point of view.”
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Retired (@jeff1s)
26th February 2021, 13:54
Hey Binotto, simulations show nothing. Every year simulation fail, that’s the point of real racing and talking on the track.
petebaldwin (@)
26th February 2021, 15:32
Perhaps that’s why he said “We hope to be competitive but we will know it only when being in Bahrain.”
Dex
26th February 2021, 18:15
He probably read the headline…
D@m@7@ (@domo70)
26th February 2021, 14:01
I don’t Agree. On the Bench they can compare data from previous engine and new engine…. so i presume the new engine it is faster….. then of course Ferrari on the track its a different story… as other factor come in the equation .
Luke S (@joeypropane)
26th February 2021, 14:06
By “simulations” does he mean the performance ranking in the latest F1 game by Codemasters??
Alex
26th February 2021, 15:16
This is all gearing up nicely for a Vettel vs Ferrari battle :) Aston Martin just have to bring a competitive car to the table
Nick
26th February 2021, 15:55
Or as Salo said, no more “punishment for their cheating”.
Ajaxn
26th February 2021, 16:04
So what the hell were they doing in previous years, using their engine boosts to overcome poor aero design?
or is this the spin ahead of the next engine ‘boost’?
Nuggy1980
27th February 2021, 8:54
Basically, well adding loads of dirty Aero because the power unit was ‘unusually’ powerful ;-)
Todd
26th February 2021, 19:16
I should drive…