Thread by @fiagirly

#F1: In a track that should’ve, on paper, favoured McLaren, Ferrari came out with one of their strongest performances against McLaren – the first valid comparison since the introduction of the upgrades.

While Verstappen and Hamilton may remain out of reach for Ferrari, the SF21 was faster than the MCL35M on every tyre compound at COTA. Leclerc was able to drive away in a clean race with a medium gap of over 3 tenths/lap over both McLaren cars.

McLaren was only 1 and a half tenth faster in Qualifying, due mainly to “the aerodynamic efficiency of the MCL35M compared to the (draggier) SF21, and no longer a power advantage of their client Mercedes Power Unit”, says a source close to Maranello.

Indirectly, this goes to show that the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) was not that far behind at the beginning of the season.

The upgrade on the hybrid components of the ERS system was needed to maximise the overall performance of the Power Unit, and therefore reduce the gap

to the Mercedes Power Unit which grew bigger especially on a Sunday.

Talking to SkySport F1 after the race in Austin, Mattia Binotto said that “the car has seen an overall improvement thanks to the engine upgrade,” which further proves that perhaps the biggest advantage brought by the new ERS is the margin it gave the Ferrari on the setup.

“The power is always available with the straight line so you get the benefit at the start of the straight line and as well at the end, think the way we can quantify, if we look at this weekend, we are running max downforce but we are somehow matching the speed of others – or

almost matching the speed of the others.”

Considering Ferrari’s disastrous 2020 season – but also the gap to other teams, not just McLaren, at the beginning of this one – this is quite the improvement.

When it comes to the Ferrari duo, Leclerc also showed to have an advantage over Sainz – one of almost 2 tenths on the straights. This can be explained with a difference in the setup between the two. Sainz needs more vertical pressure on his rear in order to control it, while

Leclerc is known to prefer less drag at the cost of a more unstable rear. It is also a matter of driving styles.

The added load on Sainz’s car aided him in his first stint on the Soft tyre, which exceeded the expectations of the team in terms of both pace and degradation rate.

Ferrari certainly needs to improve their pitstops, and quickly if they want to avoid having remorses in Mexico, where Leclerc and Sainz might both have their last big podium opportunity of the season.

via formu1a.uno