(Motorsport-Full.com) – Sebastian Vettel has won the Huge Prix of Australia three times (2011 on Red Bull, 2017 and 2018 on Ferrari). A fourth win in Melbourne's Albert Park on 15. March , exactly in a week, would be a surprise from the point of view of the four-time Formula 1 world champion: Vettel admits that Ferrari had “certainly not left as the strongest team” from the assessments in Barcelona.
Ferrari occupied in the eighth place in the team ranking in the first test week, in the second the fourth . Behind Mercedes: 2.4 or 0.2 seconds. And on his last personal test day (27. Vettel even achieved the Best time of day , 1.1 seconds ahead of Valtteri Bottas (as seventh best-placed Mercedes driver on that market).
“It's clear we used to be there,” says the Ferrari-Neatly-known individual about his Thursday program. “Before the lunch break, we simulated a few shorter runs.” He also set his best time there. “In the afternoon, we focused united states of america on a racing simulation and a few other things.”
Several things became clear. First: Ferrari has lost performance on the straight compared to 2019. This is probably related to “Ferrarigate” . Second, the car is better in the winding third sector than in the past. Third: In the curves the SF 1000 tends to understeer.
Vettel: Curves better, straight lines worse
To Vettels The last day of the test may be due to the strong wind. But he says: “Compared to the last time I was here, the car feels better. Sector 3 is better. We know that this is at the expense of top speed. We still have work to do because we have too much air resistance on the straights. “
Officially Ferrari stays with the story that 2020 Top speed lost because the focus in development was on more contact pressure. The competition, of course, is unkind, that the main reason for the slowdown on the straights was that parts of the prohibited engine technology had to be removed from the FIA as part of the “cow trade”.
Others believed that Ferrari have deliberately throttled engine performance during the assessments. Vettel says: “When testing, you don't normally turn up all your cards. And if you do, then only in situations where nobody notices and it's difficult to read your lap times exactly. We have more drag, that's measurable. For that we are a lot faster in the corners. “
That the high air resistance is a disclose,” that is united states of america conscious “, admits Vettel. And he emphasizes: “We push to reduce air resistance and make the car more efficient.” The difference to the SF 90 from 2019 is not “big from the inside”. But: “I can already feel a difference in the corners.”
Vettel: Mercedes favorite for the first races
“The others are a little bit quicker to break”, sighs the 32 – year-olds. “That's the way it is. We still have a little bit ahead of us. In my opinion, Mercedes is ahead. Every time they drive out, they come to loose times quite easily. Others have to stretch a bit more there.”
Exactly where Ferrari is in the pecking order at the beginning of the Formula 1 season 2020 do not classify seriously. Experts believe that the Italian team behind Mercedes and Red Bull is currently number 3 in the starting field at best. But Ferrari does not want to write off the season even if the start in Melbourne should not go as desired.
“The expectations are high,” says Vettel. “We are Ferrari. We are here to win. We do not break lap records and we do not shake the lap times easily from our sleeves. But before we have driven in Australia we do not know exactly.”
“If we are not in the lead in Australia, we have to make sure that we push the development and become the fastest in the field by the end of the year.”
0 Comments