Ferrari brought a lot of upgrades to its car for the race in Imola, Italy. They tested these upgrades at a track called Fiorano last week. These upgrades included changes to the floor, wings, sidepod, and engine cover. Fans hoped these upgrades would help Ferrari do better in the race, especially after seeing McLaren’s improvements in Miami.
But during qualifying on Saturday, Ferrari didn’t perform as well as expected. Both Ferrari drivers, Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc, were behind Max Verstappen from Red Bull and both McLaren drivers.
Sainz said that the new upgrades worked as they expected. He mentioned that some people thought Ferrari would do much better with these upgrades, but the reality was different. He explained that even bringing a small improvement to the car is considered good work. However, he also pointed out that other teams were also improving their cars, making it harder for Ferrari to stand out.
Sainz thought that Imola was a track where McLaren usually does well, so he wasn’t surprised that Ferrari struggled to keep up. He noticed that Ferrari was particularly slow in the first part of the track and through a tricky chicane. He was puzzled by the fact that Ferrari was slower by four-tenths of a second in one part of the track.
He believed that a strong wind in certain parts of the track affected Ferrari’s performance. Leclerc had a different idea. He thought that Red Bull could handle the corners better because they were able to drive over the kerbs more aggressively. Ferrari struggled in slower corners compared to Red Bull.
Ferrari’s upgrades didn’t give them the boost they were hoping for in Imola. They faced challenges from both McLaren and Red Bull, leaving them with some work to do to improve their performance in future races.
