Optimizing tire performance remains Ferrari’s biggest problem
Alberto Antonini, former staff member and then communications director of Ferrari, believes that the main problem for the team this year lies in tire wear, a problem that has been affecting the Scuderia since the beginning of the season.
Since the start of the season, the Ferrari SF-23 has managed to compete with the Red Bull RB19 in terms of speed during qualifying sessions. However, it struggles much more in comparison to the race pace of the Austrian cars and even some of its other competitors. The Scuderia is unable to preserve its tires long enough to fully exploit the performance of its car.
A key example of this blatant phenomenon was seen right from the first race in Bahrain, when both Red Bulls managed to make a strategy with two sets of soft tires last as long as Ferrari with two sets of hard tires. However, the soft tires, which are much more performing, typically wear out much faster.
While the work of the engineers in Maranello allowed Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc to benefit from the latest series of updates in Barcelona, it did not solve the issue regarding tire grip for now.
The blame lies with Ferrari and not Pirelli for Antonini
The former communications director of Ferrari, Alberto Antonini, stated that it was worrying that the tire issue was so problematic for Ferrari compared to other teams. « For Ferrari, the season started off poorly and risks ending even worse,” he wrote in his column on the Italian website FormulaPassion. « If the developments do not yield the expected results, as was the case in Spain. »
On one hand, it is clear that if the problems only concern the SF-23 and not the other cars, the fault lies with Ferrari and not Pirelli. On the other hand, it seems that there is a technical communication problem between Maranello and Pirelli.
Pirelli has been the sole manufacturer of Formula 1 since the 2011 season. During Ferrari’s last championship victory with Kimi Räikkönen in 2007, the car was equipped with Bridgestone tires. While Antonini asserts that getting used to Pirelli’s 18-inch tires can be difficult, he ensures that Ferrari is primarily responsible for its poor results. “Back in the Bridgestone era, it wasn’t like this,” Antonini continues. “But back then, the Japanese [supplier] paid the team every year for the privilege of supplying the tires.”
« Together, they achieved incredible things, including making a “full radial” tire work during the tests, which means that the structure was oriented perpendicular to the direction of rolling, while usually there is a certain degree of inclination. »
Today, we have to work with what we have, and it is undeniable that Ferrari’s issues stem from design flaws. But it is also undeniable that something was not understood about the fundamentals of these 2023 tires, in combination with aerodynamics.
Improvements in Spain that seem to bear fruit
In Spain, the Italian team brought significant evolutions, notably to the side pods. The previous concept did not provide satisfaction and the bathtub shape gave way to a more traditional concept, based on the Red Bull model. These improvements showed their effectiveness with Carlos Sainz’s second place in qualifying.
However, these developments will not allow Ferrari to regain a miraculous pace in the upcoming races. The major issues of the Scuderia, such as very poor tire degradation, will not be resolved by the recent improvements made.
The new package had the main goal of improving speed mainly in slow and medium turns. In this area, we are clearly heading in the right direction. We have taken a big step forward, indicated the Spaniard.
Preparing for the end of the season
Carlos Sainz also made a point of emphasizing that the changes being made would not drastically alter the performance of Ferrari. The improvements are not really aimed at gaining time in the short term. On the contrary, the end of the season and long-term performance are being targeted.
We took a step, but in a different direction so far. It won’t be a big evolution or a big change in our performance. But we want to open a window to the future. That was the goal of this evolution, not to gain half a second in the moment, said the Spaniard.
At high speed, the Ferrari still faces significant difficulties. Solutions have not yet been found for the Scuderia, but the developments made in Spain aim to pave the way for the resolution of these issues.
Our high-speed performance has not been good at all since the beginning of the season. Since Australia, we have struggled a lot with the rebounds and the balance. There are still many things happening to us, stated Carlos Sainz.
“We want to make the car more predictable, easier to drive. We want to have more facilities to complete a fast lap. Fortunately, I think we are heading in this direction,” said the Spaniard.
