Ferrari fought with McLaren for a whole season for P3 in the constructors’ championship, which was not decided until the last race of the season.
A strong end of the year, supported by an improved hybrid system on its engine, meant that Ferrari ended the season with a 47.5 point lead in the final standings.
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Ferrari has made it clear throughout the season that its focus is on preparing for the upcoming technical regulations for 2022, which should offer teams a great opportunity to make up time and close the gap to the front of the field.
Despite the close battle with McLaren, Ferrari Sports Director Laurent Mekies said the team had never thought of extending the SF21 car’s development cycle.
“The answer is no,” said Mekies at a selected media round table in which Autosport in Abu Dhabi also took part.
“I think we made it clear very early on that we had made the decision to move to 2022.
“Back then, we had hoped, because we’re still a long way from McLaren, which is still at the beginning of the season, we hoped that we could fight for third place at some point.
“But we decided not to make any compromises for 2022. So this is probably the cleanest answer I can give you today.
“We have been asked 25 times, and no way. The only development we had in the second half of the year was the hybrid, which we will be using again next year. “
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF21, Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren MCL35M and Carlos Sainz Jr., Ferrari SF21
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
As part of the preparations for 2022 and a significant change in drive design, Ferrari unveiled its improved hybrid system at the Russian Grand Prix in September.
While it offered a small performance boost that helped Ferrari fight McLaren, Mekies said it was “nothing that could be said was a game changer”.
“But when you think about it, the gaps are so small and we often look back and say if you didn’t have it, you’d have thrown those few hundredths or tenths of X back,” Mekies said.
“I think because the field is like that [tight] We felt the effect it had on us in the second or third part of the season was perhaps more significant.
“The other aspect, as you will probably remember, is that we were so exposed in overtaking situations that the absolute speed of the car was less relevant in some places because we were then so exposed in combat that we once” you fell behind, that’s it.
“In the end, that little help helped us to better exploit the potential of the car.”
