(Motorsport-Total.com) – According to Rob Smedley, formerly an engineer in Formula 1, the Ferrari updates for the Miami Grand Prix were a huge disappointment. The 52-year-old explicitly describes the situation in the “High Performance” podcast as “somewhat heartbreaking”.
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A total of eleven updates were brought to Florida. Nevertheless, not only the pace of Mercedes but also the speed of McLaren was too strong for the red cars.
“Something like this starts a negative spiral that you first have to [understand],” said Smedley in conversation with Otmar Szafnauer. “What did you bring to the start? What worked? What didn’t?”
“If wind tunnel and simulation do not correlate with what happens on the track, you have to reverse the process. That stops any development in the wind tunnel.”
Szafnauer adds: “Two things happen there: You have limited resources, and now you have to check whether these resources correlate correctly if the car is not getting faster. And the reason you have to do that is because if this correlation is not right, the development of your car becomes a gamble, right?”
“If that really is their problem, then they have to solve that first and foremost. But some engineers who would normally deal with on-track performance are now looking at correlation problems.”
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Aero departments at different teams
Szafnauer continues: “Different teams have different divisions. When I was at [Aston Martin], we had a large APG group, a team for aerodynamic performance. The people would mainly deal with correlation, but not so much with development.”
“At Alpine, we had three of those. I thought back then, that’s actually not enough. If your correlation is right, then that’s not a problem. But if you wake up, your correlation is wrong and you only have three people in the APG team, then it gets difficult.”
“Then what I just described happens: Your aerodynamicist has to deal with correlation, and not with how to make the car faster. That’s a problem.”
In the constructors’ championship, Ferrari is currently in second place, closely followed by McLaren. Although Charles Leclerc is third in the drivers’ championship, he is currently not considered a realistic title contender.
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