Ferrari racing team had a brilliant start to the 2022 championship with a victory during the first race of the season in Bahrain. Charles Leclerc took an early 16-point lead in the championship after winning in Bahrain and Australia. However, the Scuderia have struggled in recent times to win races due to reliability issues and certain errors made by the team.
Eventually, Leclerc lost his lead to Max Verstappen, who is leading the championship with six wins in 2022. The reigning world champ’s recent win came in Montreal, where Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz finished second. However, the Spaniard’s race pace proved superior to Verstappen’s, especially in the second stint.
Moreover, several recent DNFs have led to Ferrari following behind Red Bull by 76 points in the constructors’ championship. However, despite some reliability concerns in recent times, the Scuderia has been quite competitive in terms of pace with Red Bull. Thus, Silverstone will be a very crucial race for the Italian outfit in order to keep them in the championship battle. Spectators can expect a relaunch of the Ferrari F1-75 car as they aim to win for the first time in two months.
Who Could Be Dominant In Silverstone?
F1 will return to one of the fastest tracks on the 2022 racing calendar, like Baku and Montreal. But, the one challenge all teams will face is more front-limited on tyres. While traction out of the corners in Canada and Azerbaijan was a determining factor, Silverstone’s aerodynamic effectiveness could prove to be extremely crucial. Thus, it would be important to attack the corners at high speeds. There would be a need for a precise front end to generate some confidence in the drivers.
Moreover, aerodynamic efficiency means being able to have low drag without compromising too much with downforce. Luckily, Ferrari is quite close to Red Bull in terms of aerodynamic efficiency. Moreover, the Scuderia are considered to have a more straight-line pace as compared to Red Bull. This could prove to be pivotal during the upcoming weekend. So, Leclerc will benefit from a new power unit assembled in Canada, for which he was handed a 10-grid place penalty.
Further, Red Bull’s reliability issue also surfaced when Sergio Perez had to retire in Montreal due to a gearbox malfunction. In addition, porpoising is expected to cause lesser concerns on a more conventional Silverstone track, which could work to Ferrari’s advantage. Thus, Ferrari’s setup versatility and their efforts of being faster despite running with a higher ride height to counter porpoising could also help them win at Silverstone this weekend.
Ferrari To Use New Rear Wing For Both Drivers?
Ferrari has been working hard on the aerodynamics of the F1-75’s rear wing. The Italian team has been trying to find a way to increase their straight-line pace when the DRS is open. It is one of the divisions where Red Bull has had the edge over Ferrari. The Scuderia brought a new high-downforce wing to the Spanish GP, changing the design of the movable flap. Thus, when opened, the flap provides a wider air passage, reducing the drag and increasing the maximum speeds.
Meanwhile, Ferrari came up with a new medium/low downforce rear wing in Montreal, with an arched main profile and less incidence. However, the new rear wing was only used by Leclerc in Canada. At the same time, Carlos drove with the old specification used in Saudi Arabia and Australia, providing a greater rear downforce. However, both drivers are likely to use the low downforce rear wing for the upcoming race in Silverstone.
Along with a new rear wing, the beam wing was also revised slightly. It features two profiles and a slightly reduced chord on the endplate area. Meanwhile, Red Bull has been quite aggressive at the front. They removed the upper profile of the beam wing in Baku and Montreal to attain lesser drag.
Although the biggest challenges for the teams would be on the front tyres, as Silverstone is more front-limited than Montreal. Leclerc suffered some troubles in Canada coming out of the corners with oversteering due to a lazier rear. However, Ferrari collected some important data on the configuration during the Pirelli testing in Mugello. The Scuderia also tested their new rear wing. Thus, it will be interesting to see if Ferrari turns things around in their favor during the British Grand Prix.