FERRARI: A LONG ROAD BACK OR A QUICK FIX?
From challenging Mercedes for world titles, Ferrari abruptly reverted to the kind of shambles not seen since the early 1990s over the course of a disastrous 2020 campaign. Putting the Scuderia back on track won’t be the work of a moment…
TO
understand why Ferrari flunked the 2020 Formula 1 season so comprehensively, and why the road back is so challenging, we need to go back a year. To 28 February 2020, in fact, and a bombshell the sport’s governing body lodged in the stakeholders’ inboxes roughly five minutes before the chequered flag on the final day of pre-season testing in Barcelona.
The statement read: “The FIA announces that, after thorough technical investigations, it has concluded its analysis of the operation of the Scuderia Ferrari Formula 1 power unit and reached a settlement with the team. The specifics of the agreement will remain between the parties. The FIA and Scuderia Ferrari have agreed to a number of technical commitments that will improve the monitoring of all Formula 1 power units for forthcoming championship seasons.”
These ‘investigations’ had been in progress for several months, during which the FIA’S engineering experts pored over every detail of the Ferrari engine, which had been the subject of ongoing speculation during the final races of the previous season. Other teams had been expecting the FIA to uncover some sort of ‘smoking gun’ and that it would hit Ferrari with a penalty – perhaps even cancelling some of the results achieved in the 2019 season. Instead this statement, which left a veil of mystery over the specifics of the case, felt like a cop-out and Ferrari’s rivals were outraged.
In hindsight, perhaps, they did not need to be so anxious. The FIA had already issued several technical directives relating to the fuel and lubrication systems of the F1 power units and how they would be monitored – and in the hiatus between testing and the season actually starting, it issued several more. In effect, the ‘grey areas’ in the 2019 regulations had been removed and the policing sharpened, and all the power unit manufacturers had to adapt to it. It was obvious as early as the Barcelona tests that those new regulations had hit the Ferrari power unit quite hard, an impression confirmed by the relative performance of Ferrari’s engine customers.
This was a determining factor in Ferrari’s 2020 performances. Team principal Mattia Binotto has never quantified the horsepower lost through complying with the new regime, but estimates made by other teams put the figure around 50-60bhp. That’s a significant number and it compromised the entire 2020 technical package. The SF1000 had been designed around the assumption of high power, and the technical group comprising Simone Resta, David Sanchez and Enrico Cardile (Resta returned from secondment at Alfa Romeo when the project was almost completed) permitted a fair value of drag, trusting that on the tracks with important
THE SF1000 HAD BEEN DESIGNED AROUND THE ASSUMPTION OF HIGH POWER, AND THE TECHNICAL GROUP PERMITTED A FAIR VALUE OF DRAG, TRUSTING THAT ON THE TRACKS WITH IMPORTANT STRAIGHTS THE ENGINE WOULD BE POWERFUL ENOUGH TO COMPENSATE
straights the engine would be powerful enough to compensate.
It was the shortcomings of the 2019 project which dictated the aerodynamic philosophy of the SF1000. The SF90 was fast on the straight, as demonstrated by its performance at tracks such as Bahrain, Spa and Monza, but its slow-corner performance was lacking, as was overall pace at circuits requiring high downforce levels. The goal of the SF1000 was to increase the downforce and Ferrari succeeded, albeit not in the ideal way, since it came at the cost of efficiency. The Ferrari engineers still hoped the power of the engine would compensate for the greater drag, but the agreement with the FIA meant this was not the case.
In 2020 Ferrari had major problems on the tracks where it had achieved its best results in 2019, confirming the impression that the direction of the project failed after the agreement with the FIA. It did not take long for the Ferrari engineers to realise this was going to be a very difficult season: a notable lack of speed became apparent at the Barcelona tests, and this could not be resolved quickly because it related to the basic design of the car.
The obvious question is why Ferrari specifically has lost so much power in complying with the new FIA technical directives. It’s likely to relate to details of the power unit’s architecture which Ferrari naturally wishes to remain confidential, hence the nature of its agreement with the FIA. The governing body has admitted it could not find conclusive evidence of wrongdoing, which would have enabled Ferrari to lodge appeals against any punitive sanctions. That would have taken months, which is why the FIA reached a compromise.
“The agreement is secret because it is obvious that an agreement of this type is,” says Binotto. “If it hadn’t been secret we would have had to show everyone the drawings of our engine, and I don’t think anyone has ever done it in Formula 1, and no one will ever do that in the future. About the ‘grey areas’, it was so throughout the 2019 season until new guidelines arrived, [which were] also defined thanks to our help. These directives have had an impact on all engines, but we paid a higher price.”
There have been no official communications regarding what has been changed on the Ferrari 2020 power unit. The team’s opponents believe that in 2019 Ferrari found and exploited one of these ‘grey areas’ regarding fuel flow, in such a way that it was able to inject more fuel. But it was never found to have exceeded the permitted maximum of 100 kg/h.
“Nobody in 2019 filed a protest against us,” insists Binotto. “And what was done subsequently [at the end of the 2019 season] starts from the FIA’S desire to continue its investigations, which would have led to a considerable waste of energies, both on their part and ours, at a time when we were busy developing the car for the 2020 season. We thus came to a simple agreement: let’s focus on the future, let’s help us understand what are the grey areas where clarification is needed, clarifications which have been made with our help.”
Another decision which had a huge impact on Ferrari’s 2020 season was the one not to renew Sebastian Vettel’s contract at the end of the year – and to tell him he was on his way out before a wheel had turned in anger.
On 12 May Ferrari announced the divorce with Vettel, and it’s important to underline this was a unilateral choice, a decision taken by the top management of the Scuderia. It’s been many years since Vettel has been the dictated rather than the dictator when it comes to his career.
“I was at home,” says Binotto, “and before calling Sebastian to tell him our decision, I mentally repeated three times what I should tell him and the best way to do it. The decision to end the collaboration was not easy, because we love him as a driver,
AT TIMES LECLERC’S DESPERATION TO MAKE AN IMPACT LED TO POOR DECISION-MAKING, AS AT THE START OF THE SAKHIR GRAND PRIX WHEN HE TOOK OUT MAX VERSTAPPEN
as a person, and for what he has given to the team over the years. But there comes a time when you need to make choices looking to the future, we are close to the start of a new technical cycle in 2022, there is a team that is building up in all its roles, we have the duty and the ambition to have to look at the medium and long term, and it is precisely on these rational arguments that one finds the strength to make certain choices.
“Did Seb put the phone down? No, he didn’t close the call, he’s a very intelligent person, a beautiful person, as demonstrated by the professional approach he maintained during the season in which there was no lack of difficulties. Never negative, always proactive, a very respectable person.”
Vettel’s behaviour in public was exemplary but, human nature being what it is, the motivations weren’t the same as they were in 2017 and 2018, when he was battling for the title. Being declared surplus to Ferrari’s requirements cannot fail to have had a bearing on morale, especially for a four-time world champion who was previously the team leader.
The SF1000’S performance didn’t help the situation, even though the Scuderia had recalibrated its expectations as the realities of the car’s problems became apparent. Charles Leclerc had prevailed in the internal battle with Vettel in 2019 and now a difficult car put Vettel deeper into crisis. He traditionally prefers a car with a lot of rear end predictability, a characteristic the SF1000 never possessed. Beyond scoring a podium in the Turkish GP, for Vettel 2020 was a long countdown towards the start of his new adventure at Aston Martin, and Vettel made no secret of that. The desire to change is understandable, and paradoxically in the final races of 2020 the driver who appeared under pressure was Leclerc.
For Ferrari’s new superstar 2020 was a shocking comedown after the great exploits of the previous season. Drivers enjoying long careers will find the occasional year of suffering can happen, and they eventually reconcile themselves to that and gain perspective. This is what Leclerc needs to digest over the winter break, because at times his desperation to make an impact led to poor decision-making, as at the start of the Sakhir Grand Prix when he took out Max Verstappen. For his second year as undisputed team leader, Leclerc must aspire to greater serenity in high-pressure moments such as this.
Mattia Binotto’s task is not a small one, and although the team principal has now officially declared that he will play no further part in the technical decisions, his presence in the Gestione Sportiva in Maranello will always tempt him to take a look at the technical area. Also, at certain stages of the 2020 season, there was the impression that Binotto was left alone at the helm of Scuderia Ferrari.
President John Elkann and CEO Louis Camilleri periodically issued statements guaranteeing maximum confidence in Binotto, but there is an obvious difference in approach between the current top management and that of Sergio Marchionne, who had taken to heart the ‘mission’ of Ferrari. Marchionne not only attended many grands prix, he carved out the time to be present at meetings of the Formula 1 Commission.
Today Binotto relies on himself and on the emerging figure of Laurent Mekies for such duties; what’s missing, perhaps, is a charismatic heavyhitter, a role fulfilled in the past by Luca di Montezemolo and Marchionne. Neither of these individuals were afraid of thumping desks in offices in defence of Ferrari’s interests.
Often when Ferrari struggles on track, heads roll within the factory. During 2020 there were some changes in terms of organisation of responsibilities inside the technical department, but any who expected big-name recruitments to reinforce operations were to be disappointed. It’s very likely Simone Resta, who left to start a new adventure at Haas, will be replaced with an experienced figure, but any such hire will only be able to have meaningful influence on the 2022 project.
In the nearer future there’s the rapidly approaching question of the 2021 season and how Ferrari can claw back lost ground. Will it be possible to do so with the restrictions imposed on development for this season? The possibility exists. The most critical aspect for Ferrari in 2020 was undoubtedly the power unit, and on this front there are no restrictions. The new power unit, with a lighter turbine and new cylinder head design, has already been running on test benches for several months and Binotto says he is confident about its prospects.
Obviously the definitive answer will only come when the new car runs on track, but astute observers have divined a potentially significant change in the political winds. In November, Ferrari changed its position regarding Red Bull’s proposal to freeze the power unit specifications from 2022, a concept it had previously been against. This suggests Maranello is confident about its new unit, because otherwise an early freeze might prove ruinous.
Aside from the power unit, there’s still room for manoeuvre to solve the major problems of the SF1000 project by working on its aerodynamics and rear suspension. Ferrari can spend the two tokens granted by the regulations in these areas and hope the horsepower gains from the new engine brings the complete package up to standard.
Ferrari’s ambitions are more modest than they were 12 months ago. It can aspire to more podiums, perhaps to poach the occasional win, and aim to finish third in the constructors’ championship, but these goals won’t be simple to achieve.
Provided Leclerc can rediscover his equilibrium and Ferrari can put together a more competitive package – elements which are intertwined – success will also depend on the occupant of the second car. While the announcement of Carlos Sainz was greeted with disdain by those expecting Daniel Ricciardo, the Spaniard boosted his credentials over the course of a strong 2020 with Mclaren. There are fewer doubts concerning his maturity and talent and fewer voices whispering that an incorrect decision had been made.
Ultimately any rebirth of Ferrari will rely upon the collaboration between the two drivers. As is usual in F1, if there is any friction between them, it will manifest itself when the car is in a position for them to win races.
It’s perhaps ironic that this is one problem Ferrari must hope to face and manage as soon as possible.
THE NEW POWER UNIT HAS ALREADY BEEN RUNNING ON TEST BENCHES FOR SEVERAL MONTHS, AND BINOTTO SAYS HE IS CONFIDENT ABOUT ITS PROSPECTS