Ferrari’s fightback begins in first practice for Bahrain Grand Prix
If there is to be a real fight at the front in Formula One this season Ferrari must square up at the Sakhir circuit and find the form that made them look so gloriously threatening in pre-season but which deserted them at the first round in Australia.
Sunday’s race in Bahrain will be a major indicator of whether the season will build to a blow-for-blow climax or present a disappointing mismatch. If the Scuderia cannot at least match an already imposing Mercedes they may find their challenge slipping away. Fortunately for fans, early signs in practice are that under floodlights in the desert, Ferrari are firing once again.
Sebastian Vettel had been purring at the performance of the SF90 at testing in Barcelona, where they appeared to enjoy at least a three-tenths advantage. In Melbourne he was left asking: “Why are we slow?” as Valtteri Bottas led Lewis Hamilton home for a dominant Mercedes one-two, almost a minute clear of Vettel in fourth.
Under the new team principal, Mattia Binotto, however, this is not the Ferrari of old. Finger-pointing and panic stations have been studiously avoided. Consideration and analysis appear to be the order of the day. “The last couple of weeks have been very intense,” said Vettel. “I think the team internally has been quite calm. It hasn’t been easy these past two weeks to try to understand and catch up. Clearly there was something we were missing, as we had a very good car at testing.”
In Barcelona the car looked strong in every area. In Australia, Ferrari could not find a setup that worked. The car lacked balance and grip and consequently pace in almost every area, down on straightline speed and through the slow- and medium-speed corners. Ferrari know, however, that Albert Park is not a typical circuit, low grip and bumpy, while the abrasive, grippier surface at Bahrain brings the tyres up to temperature quickly and should suit their car.
In practice on Friday that certainly appeared to be the case, with Ferrari back in the sweet spot. They were almost a second clear in the first session and crucially, in the much more representative evening running, Vettel was quickest, three-hundredths faster than his teammate, Charles Leclerc, and a full sixth-tenths ahead of Hamilton and Bottas.
Hamilton, Bottas and Mercedes were left surprised by their advantage in Australia but rightly were taking nothing for granted. Ferrari still have great confidence in the strengths of the SF90 as reiterated by Leclerc. “I don’t think there are any fundamental issues in the car concept,” he said. “It’s just about fine-tuning. I don’t think it’s the real performance of the car we showed in Australia. We are all quite confident that we can be better here in Bahrain.”
The 21-year-old, in his first season for Ferrari and only his second in F1, must consider himself lucky that he has joined a team displaying no signs of allowing setbacks to become terminal and divisive. “I think the mentality is the right one,” he added. “We need to keep this one throughout the whole year, the mentality is very positive.”
Vettel, equally, knows the potential in his car and how badly he needs it to be exploited if he is to compete for the title. He has won at Sakhir four times already, including the last two meetings, and if Ferrari have indeed dialledin his ride, it is Mercedes who will face a formidable challenge and the season will, gratifyingly, be game on.
There has also been developments away from the track – Ferrari now say they are confident a new agreement will be reached with F1 over new rules and commercial arrangement for 2021 after the teams met with Liberty Media in London last Tuesday.
“There are still points where there is some distance compared to the position on what we believe should be the right Ferrari position,” said Binotto. “But we are still discussing and I think it will be good for F1 to find the right agreement. I*m pretty sure we will do it.”
Williams, at the back of the field and enduring yet another difficult season, announced in Bahrain that the team’s co-founder, Sir Patrick Head, is to return as a consultant to their engineering team as they attempt to revive their fortunes.
The team missed two days of testing because their car was not ready and now admit it has a fundamental problem that has left it well off the pace. Head started the team with Sir Frank Williams in 1976 and went on, as technical and engineering director, to oversee their seven drivers’ and nine constructors’ titles. He stepped down at the end of 2011 but has remained a shareholder. The team’s technical director, Paddy Lowe, has taken a leave of absence for personal reasons.
Head’s experience and guiding influence could not have come at a better time if Williams are to halt what has become a steep decline.