Would the Ferrari team no longer have to blush? Charles Leclerc, its star pilot, realized the best lap times from the second day of Formula 1 winter testing on Thursday in Barcelona. He is also ahead of his French buddy Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri). Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) was an unusual, but still anecdotal, last place.
On the side of Ferrari, we hope that 2022 rhymes with the return of happy days. The Italian tifosis, in any case, have been waiting for the return to the top of the Scuderia since 2008. An eternity for the team which remains the most successful in the history of F1. These tests are only the beginnings of a season turned upside down by profound regulatory changes, with brand new single-seaters reviewed from top to bottom, but Ferrari seems to be in good shape in this Catalan winter.
Leclerc goes fastest in the afternoon session with a time of 1:19:804 #F1 pic.twitter.com/iQ7KDWvYbO
— Formula 1 (@F1) February 24, 2022
After the second and third fastest times on Wednesday from Leclerc and his Spanish teammate Carlos Sainz, Leclerc took the lead this time. “We are still the underdogs, not the favourites”nuanced Mattia Binotto, boss of the Ferrari team. “But as Ferrari it was important for us to focus and prioritize 2022.” It is that in 2021, the Scuderia had finished 3rd in the constructors’ ranking, after a catastrophic year in 2020 (6th).
Will the future be golden again for the prancing horse? “Only the next few months, not the next few days, will tell us. It will take at least four to five races to see the potential of the cars, there are still so many things to adapt, to adjust”said the director of the team.
At the technical level, the cars, heavier, more muscular, benefit again from the ground effect. This suction effect, banned in the 1980s, “glue” bitumen single-seaters. F1 intends to rely on it to allow a following car to be less bothered by the flow of air escaping from the car in front.
Bumpy road to the top for Charles Leclerc! #F1 pic.twitter.com/Z6a5e6d3bo
— Formula 1 (@F1) February 24, 2022
Since Wednesday, the teams have been coping with this effect, not without difficulty: we see the cars on the track “bounce”rise and descend slightly. “I think most of us have at least underestimated this problem”explained Binotto. “Solving the problem will be quite simple”he continues, but keeping as much performance by fixing it will be “a less easy exercise”.
The Alfa Romeo team, faced with these problems, has not been able to complete as many laps as its competitors since Wednesday. A detrimental situation knowing the importance of chaining the kilometers to collect the data and improve your single-seater before the start of the season.
Defending champion Max Verstappen (Red Bull) did not race on Thursday. His team-mate Sergio Perez was the only red flag of the day, interrupting the session for a gearbox problem.