the SF1000 project is undermined to its foundations

09/13/2020 World

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The problem with the SF1000 project is in its foundations. After nine races, the explicit confession of Mattia Binotto has also arrived: there is no restyling that can cure the dark ills of the redhead, radical interventions are needed that cannot be categorized under the heading ‘developments’.

Mugello’s verdicts paint a bitter reality for Cavallino fans: with twelve cars on the track, the two Ferraris crossed the finish line in ninth and tenth positions, behind Kimi Raikkonen, and then descended between the two reds with the rise of Leclerc to eighth. site.

The ranking of the fastest laps of the race is also very indicative, with Iceman (1’21 “164) who has been confirmed as faster than the Ferrari tandem (1’21” 202 for Leclerc, 1’21 “229 for Vettel ).

Leaving aside the two Mercedes, even at Mugello, on another planet, the two Ferraris were delayed by more than a second on the fastest lap of Alexander Albon’s Red Bull, and eight tenths of a second of Daniel Ricciardo’s Renault.

“We have no rhythm, we don’t handle the tires,” Binotto summed up in an attempt to provide some answers.

The problem is that race after race, the gap even with respect to new rivals (for Ferrari) increases, since the base of the competition is on average good, and it allows that ordinary development work that does not work in the Cavallino, or as says Binotto, it is not possible to do so.

So Renault, McLaren and Racing Point have become single-seaters that are capable of removing the red paint without great difficulty (as we have seen too clearly today at Mugello) and the Alpha Tauri is also approaching a Constructors ranking that sees sixth out. the Scuderia. , seventeen points behind Renault.

The drivers can do little, in fact Leclerc’s feat in qualifying yesterday took the SF1000 to a land that is no longer his, and the 59 laps of the race (actually less considering SC and the two red flags) led to Charles back to the position he had. His car deserves today, a painful step for the Monegasque.

“The next race will come with some small news – said Binotto – but it will not be changes that will drastically change things,” confirming that more is needed to return to compete for the podium.

However, today a small step forward in the fight can still be used in the ‘midfield’, which is the qualifying area in which Ferrari currently navigates. In Mugello the strategists also played wild cards that did not work (like hard tires), making the situation a little worse but without affecting the final verdicts, but they are elections that testify to the desire not to give up even in the face of harsh reality.

“I made a good start and put myself in the best possible position – commented Leclerc – the two Mercedes left so I too had fresh air ahead of me, but I was struggling a lot with the car. It is a difficult time ”.

It’s certainly not the ideal setting to celebrate the 1000 Grand Prix goal, but lessons can be learned from the long journey started by the Scuderia in 1950. No.

In 1980, reigning world champion Ferrari finished the season with a fifth-place best result, but laid the groundwork for a resurrection, enshrined the following season with Gilles Villeneuve’s historic victory in Monaco. It is not so much the present that is scary, but the planning of a future that is not so far away.