FERRARI is very disappointed with the third seasonal appointment; a third position of Kimi Raikkonen and an eighth position for Sebastian Vettel, after the Ferrari duo had dominated the qualifying on Saturday, cannot make Maranello's men happy. Especially because, with the four-time German world champion, they could have further lengthen in the drivers' standings against Lewis Hamilton, the main opponent in the title fight. But, and we underline the “but”, the Cavallino team can return to Maranello with the awareness of having, after the first three events of the season, the best car.

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The problems of balance during the Melbourne Grand Prix are now a distant memory because in Bahrain and China the car seemed to be truly transformed. Setup refinements and some aerodynamic interventions were enough to transform the SF71H from "ugly duckling" (in a manner of speaking, of course) to a "swan". Interventions that have been made since the trip to Bahrain, where the front wing was further retouched and so ensured greater stability of the car to the front wheels and where, according to information gathered by FUnoAnalisiTecnica, a new version of the bottom was used that guaranteed greater load in the rear area.

The bottom that did not present too visible news (the most relevant were in the lower part of the bargeboard) because the engineers have worked more on a structural level to eliminate the excessive flexibility that had created some problems in the back area of ​​the SF71H car between the winter tests and the Australian trip. These changes have responded very positively with the aerodynamics that have finally found on the track much similar data to that collected in their simulations performed in the wind tunnel and CFD.

To underline also the great work done by the engineers who managed, during the winter and a bit unexpectedly, to equal the performances in qualifying of the much acclaimed Power Unit Mercedes. The Italian Power Unit in fact, having entered the "Qualifying Mode", is one of the real strengths of the 2018 single-seater; since Australia, the “red car” has managed to gain, especially in straight lines, valuable “positions” against the W09. This is especially evident in qualifying when Vettel and Raikkonen can fully exploit the engine potential without worrying too much about the consumption of the endothermic unit. Because if there is an area in which Maranello still has to work is that of the efficiency of the endothermic unit that seems to be more fuel-thirsty than the Anglo-German one. During the races, especially in sections where power is important, Ferrari drivers are often forced to save fuel, losing part of the advantage that can be seen in the dry lap during qualifying. This was very evident in the Shanghai race where both Vettel and Raikkonen were doing a lot of Lift & Coast in the long straight line in the third sector of the Chinese circuit. If in the qualifications the Ferrari duo gained from 1 to 3 tenths in that section, in the race the situation completely overturned with the Bottas W09 much faster than the Vettel SF71H.

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Another technical note that we want to highlight in this second analysis (after that of the post- Australia - LINK) on the Ferrari SF71H is that, according to the latest rumors collected, Ferrari would have developed an interesting system to try to improve efficiency of the rear wing. The more attentive will have noticed the presence of a further lever in the rear part of the Ferrari 2018 steering wheel that would serve to blow the exhaust hot air in the rear wing area, increasing its efficiency even when the accelerator is not pressed. To do this you need to "waste" electricity, coming either directly from the MGU-H or from the battery, to keep the turbine at high speeds.

A solution which for the technical regulation could be regular (even if borderline) but that, if confirmed, will certainly lead to discussions as the International Federation, after the Barcelona tests, approved the Renault exhaust solution but preventing the teams from using specific engine mapping to blow hot gas even when the accelerator is released.

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Not only the constructors' classification (Mercedes "far" only 1 point despite the problems in the Chinese GP) and the drivers, but also the analysis of the performance gap in qualifying tells us that in Shanghai the Ferrari overtook Mercedes. The German team kept this "record" from the distant 2014 when, thanks to a change of regulation created ad hoc for the colossus of Stuttgart, Formula 1 hybrid engines were introduced.

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After rightly praised the performance of the SF71H, we return to the Chinese GP to analyze the key moments that did not allow the Ferrari to collect the positive had "seeded" in qualifying and in the early stages of the race.

The first aspect that has influenced the management of the race was the departure. Raikkonen, from the second position, had a better starting point than Vettel and he tried to attack his team-mate in the insertion of the first corner. The German driver, however, closed the door to maintain the first position and forced Raikkonen to give up the accelerator getting overtaken by Bottas and allowing Verstappen to attack the Finn of Ferrari in the next corner. The Vettel's maneuver was positive because it allowed him to maintain the leadership, but it was a pity because he couldn’t get any coverage by Mercedes and Red Bull from his teammate. In retrospect it was perhaps better to leave the interior to Raikkonen, maintaining a 1-2 Ferrari that might allowed a different management of the Chinese GP.

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In the first stint Vettel on Soft tires pushed really hard turning at a better pace than Bottas, also on the "yellow" compound. The Finnish driver of Mercedes managed to be quicker than the rival only on lap 4, 9 and 16. Vettel before the Bottas pit stop had managed to build a lead of about 3.5 seconds that seemed to make it safe from a possible attempt to undercut the Mercedes.

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An attempt that Ferrari should have thought, recalling Vettel in the pits before the Mercedes driver. And instead, grossly wrong, Ferrari has timed, with Mercedes that cleverly took the initiative by calling Bottas in the pits on lap 18. The Italian team was forced to respond with Vettel's stop on the following lap. Despite a gap that seemed to be rather important, the Finnish driver managed to overtake Ferrari, finding himself at the head of the race. Below you can find, in a schematic way, all the times realized by Vettel and Bottas with the relative course of the gap.

Many have asked how Bottas managed to recover over 3 seconds of disadvantage. We find the answer in two factors: the first, most important, to be associated with the difference in performance between a new Medium tire and a Soft used over 20 laps (considering also the laps in qualifying) on ​​a track with high tire degradation; the second is instead to be found in the Pit Stop time of the two drivers where the mechanics of the Anglo German team managed to recover 1 second on the rivals in red. A rather slow Ferrari in the Pit Stop of the Chinese Grand Prix, especially due to the problem in Bahrain, which caused the serious injury of the mechanic Francesco Cigarini.

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Once behind the Mercedes, Vettel has never managed to trouble Bottas. According to the engineers, the performance delta to be able to overtake on this track was estimated in about 1 second and the performance difference between the two cars was only a few tenths but still in favor of Ferrari also on the "white" compound.

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To conclude the Ferrari analysis of the Chinese GP, and to highlight the bad Sunday by Rueda & Co, we have to highlight the wrong strategy towards Kimi Raikkonen. From our point of view, it made little sense to compromise the race of the Finnish rider, then "recovered" partially thanks to the Safety Car, to help Vettel. The trick of using Raikkonen as a variable to hope for Vettel's overtaking on Bottas did not work simply because the grip of the new Medium mounted by the Mercedes driver was significantly greater than the much used yellow tyres by Raikkonen. Seven more laps on Vettel on the Soft and a good 15 seconds lost against Daniel Ricciardo who at the time of his first Pit Stop, on lap 17, was 3 seconds behind.

Without fault, however, the non-stop by Vettel and Raikkonen with the Safety Car; if the former was in fact already beyond the Pit Lane entry line at the time of Charlie Whiting's SC, the latter had recently changed tires (with a new Medium train) and therefore could also be better not make a new stop, gaining instead the position on the track for possible stops of pilots in more advanced positions (see Red Bull).

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We will focus more on the accident between Vettel and Verstappen in the analysis of the Austrian Anglo Team that will be released in the coming days. It should be noted that the contact between the Dutch Red Bull driver and the four-time Ferrari world champion has caused damage to the flat bottom of the SF71H but, as understood, the main Vettel problem was in the rear Mediums, which after the contact, heated up and suffered very important superficial damages (with associated vibrations).

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There is nothing else to add, except that, after the "lucky" Australian victory and the hard-won GP of Bahrain, we have assisted to an unfortunate Sebastian Vettel Sunday. But the great serenity of the German driver means great awareness in the package, perhaps really ready to bring the world title to Maranello 10/11 years later.