While the extent of the Maranello team’s problems was evident in the pre-season testing, it was actually a rule change related to Covid that sealed its fate for the entire campaign.
As part of the cost-cutting measures put in place to help F1 cope with the financial crisis sparked by the pandemic, a number of restrictions have been placed on car and engine upgrades.
One of these was the imposition of an engine stop, which meant that the engine specification used at the beginning of the season was the only one that could be used for the remainder of the year.
Although Ferrari knew what improvements were needed to regain lost horsepower, nothing could be done during the season to correct the deficit.
Late last year, Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto said that if the rules had been completely open, his team would have given priority to engine upgrades.
“If we weren’t frozen in 2020, the aggregate would probably be the first thing we’d address during the season,” he said.
“And I think we would certainly have gotten an upgrade in 2020 before we got to 2021. I think the upgrade we might have had at least would have been enough not to be the worst aggregate in the field.”
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The experience Ferrari has had over the last year of effectively tying hands is a warning of the pressures F1 engine manufacturers will face in 2021, to be reached right now.
The motor freeze rule remains in place, so the specification used for the season opening Bahrain Grand Prix must be followed for the entire campaign. There won’t be a second chance to fix a deficiency.
Mercedes technical director James Allison realized last week that engine workers were facing a stressful winter and he said it was a “significant challenge”.
“Aside from the urge for the power supply company to get more power from their PU and the intense effort that goes into it, they had to do so in a context where there is less chance of failure,” he said.
“In previous years, there were three discrete opportunities a year that could be upgraded to the PU. With each new PU you could have a different design and hopefully get better performance with each engine you put on the line.
“In 2021 you only have one opportunity to bring this increase in performance to the track. So you need to know that you can put as much goodness as you can into this upgrade and then make it stop because you only get that one shot at it.
“This increases the pressure on the PU organization to ensure that we get as much of it as possible on this unique opportunity.”
The situation could indeed be very critical for Red Bull’s future as it awaits a response from the F1 commission on whether competing teams will support a full engine stop from 2022 to 2025.
The Milton Keynes-based team has reached a preliminary agreement with Honda to take over the Japanese maker’s project if it leaves Formula 1 at the end of the year.
However, the deal can only be closed if development is frozen for the next year as Red Bull cannot afford the huge R&D costs that would arise from the need to do engine upgrades.
The situation is quite complicated as Renault plans to introduce a new engine in 2022 and therefore does not need to change its own plans to cope with an early freeze.
It is likely that some form of compromise will be agreed in the end, but that means that Red Bull’s short-term fate in F1 has a crucial moment ahead, as from Bahrain 2021 until new rules come into effect, there is no scope for developing one own power plant exists in terms of how it performs in the first races of the coming season.
The work Honda has done this winter to fill the gap with Mercedes will therefore be particularly critical – although the news from the company’s plant seemed quite encouraging.
When asked about the information from Japan at the end of last year, Verstappen said: “Yes, they are very positive, but I also know that the other teams are not standing still. They also work very hard to improve. Hopefully we can of course close the gap a little. But we’ll find out. “
With the countdown to the first test and the first race in Bahrain, not only will the new cars be scrutinized – how the engines perform early will be decisive in the coming battles.
And Ferrari’s years of pain last year is a valuable lesson in the price that can be paid if you don’t get things right at the start.
The post How’s Ferrari pain during the season highlights the engine task 2021 first appeared on monter-une-startup.
