2022 Scuderia Ferrari F1 Team

[JPower]

if adapts into perez mode he will get his consistency back, already has a car to finish on podium every race.

You have far more faith in Sainz than he’s earned. He’s leagues from even Perez in this style of F1. I don’t have confidence he’s suddenly going to “get it”. He’s not shown he has that kind of talent and it’s getting worse the harder he tries. I hope I’m wrong but I don’t think he’s going to come around. Ferrari sure isn’t going to wait for him very long.

Don't see how. He's earned plenty because Ferrari saw the progression he made in 2021 and is expecting similar in 2022.

Will it happen? We don't know for sure but I'd rather bet on him than not.

Currently his pace gap to Leclerc is almost exactly where it was at this time in 2021. It took him time to figure out what worked best and slowly but surely started to close the gap to Leclerc during the second half of the season.

People calling for his head are being typical overreactionaries and that's exactly what Ferrari is looking not to do post-2020.

[JPower]

No offense to Sainz, but this sport is like any—you’re only as good as your last game.

I've always taken that quote as a sort of tongue-in-cheek criticism of how irrational and short-sighted sports fans tend to be when evaluating teams/players. Cuz that's certainly not how it actually works in reality.

Really? Because I dont know if any charity cases in sports whereby teams pay players to drive $hitty, drop passes, throw interceptions, strike out, or keep crashing the car. Usually those sports teams lose, but hey, if you’re into charity cases and compromising the team because you Iike a player, good luck with that. lol. Smh.

Players go through slumps all the time. Completely blowing up your lineup with no reasonable alternative because of one is an idiotic move more often than not.

[Chuckjr]

I've always taken that quote as a sort of tongue-in-cheek criticism of how irrational and short-sighted sports fans tend to be when evaluating teams/players. Cuz that's certainly not how it actually works in reality.

Really? Because I dont know if any charity cases in sports whereby teams pay players to drive $hitty, drop passes, throw interceptions, strike out, or keep crashing the car. Usually those sports teams lose, but hey, if you’re into charity cases and compromising the team because you Iike a player, good luck with that. lol. Smh.

Players go through slumps all the time. Completely blowing up your lineup with no reasonable alternative because of one is an idiotic move more often than not.

Do they? I don’t remember Senna having a slump. I don’t remember Schumacher having a slump. I don’t remember Hakkinen having a slump. I don’t remember Prost having a slump. I guess we will know how your theory works out by years end....

[JPower]

Really? Because I dont know if any charity cases in sports whereby teams pay players to drive $hitty, drop passes, throw interceptions, strike out, or keep crashing the car. Usually those sports teams lose, but hey, if you’re into charity cases and compromising the team because you Iike a player, good luck with that. lol. Smh.

Players go through slumps all the time. Completely blowing up your lineup with no reasonable alternative because of one is an idiotic move more often than not.

Do they? I don’t remember Senna having a slump. I don’t remember Schumacher having a slump. I don’t remember Hakkinen having a slump. I don’t remember Prost having a slump. I guess we will know how your theory works out by years end....

Sainz isn't Senna or Schumacher and its pretty stupid to make that comparison given they are top 5 all-time drivers. No one but you is holding him to that type of standard.

As for drivers going through slumps or taking time to figure out cars, yes, it happens. I'd count Lewis' entire 2011 season as a slump. Kimi had multiple underperforming stints. Ricciardo has had a few and is arguably in the middle of one now. Bottas had a few too.

It happens. Best thing to do at this point is put your efforts into helping your driver/player in the best possible place to succeed. Long season to go.

[dialtone]

This is my usual telemetry graph with a big twist, this is the average lap in the race, at least until Charles was in the race so for the first 24 laps.
As usual, yellow background is when at least 1 driver is not 100% throttle.
My observations are:

* Leclerc consistently better braking, at this point I think this is actually real since it happened every race except 2 corners in Imola. Ferrari can brake later.
* It's small, and people can argue here, but I think Hamilton was running a lot of downforce and drag. Yes he was lift-and-coasting, it's easy to see that, but his speed curve starts to lose steepness well before the yellow background (throttle lift/brake). I think Merc was running much bigger wings than the others, the car itself may not be too bad aside from wings because of the high speed with DRS active, but it's possible that the high amount of DF, with the high temperature really stressed the engine to keep up and that was part of the reason for overheating.
* Ferrari acceleration is quite impressive in just about any straight, particularly into T10 (~3300m) and finish line.
* Leclerc was doing a fantastic job nursing the tyres, slow through T3 and T9, and veeeery slow throttle application in T15 (S3 chicane)
* top speed wise the car is fine, in fact if I look at Sainz for the "whole" race, laps 2-50, Sainz is faster than anyone on track.

I think the car is the best car right now in terms of balance and optimal window.

[Chuckjr]

Players go through slumps all the time. Completely blowing up your lineup with no reasonable alternative because of one is an idiotic move more often than not.

Do they? I don’t remember Senna having a slump. I don’t remember Schumacher having a slump. I don’t remember Hakkinen having a slump. I don’t remember Prost having a slump. I guess we will know how your theory works out by years end....

Sainz isn't Senna or Schumacher and its pretty stupid to make that comparison given they are top 5 all-time drivers. No one but you is holding him to that type of standard.

As for drivers going through slumps or taking time to figure out cars, yes, it happens. I'd count Lewis' entire 2011 season as a slump. Kimi had multiple underperforming stints. Ricciardo has had a few and is arguably in the middle of one now. Bottas had a few too.

It happens. Best thing to do at this point is put your efforts into helping your driver/player in the best possible place to succeed. Long season to go.

Why not compare him to some of the best? I’m sure he does to himself and I’d think less of him if he didn’t. Should he be striving for mediocrity as you wish him, it seems? Seems stupid to strive for mediocrity when you’re driving a Ferrari, but maybe that’s just me.

In fact, would you like to be compared to mediocrity or the best in your line of work? I certainly wouldn’t want to be compared to mediocrity because mediocrity isn’t satisfying. You think Sainz thinks mediocrity is satisfying? Maybe mediocrity is ok with you.

I’m absolutely not saying to fire him mid season. That would be foolish. I’m saying if he hasn’t figured it by end of season, he’s likely not going to. The car is too good to be suffering from a driver that can’t figure it out. If he does, great, but if he hasn’t by September, it may be time to look elsewhere. Ferrari would be foolish to not be considering by then if he’s still fumbling by fall. And for what it’s worth I want the guy to succeed. I think he’s a good chap. Really. But he’s gotta step up. This is getting old. His driving is unacceptable currently. Just the way it is.

[codetower]

Do they? I don’t remember Senna having a slump. I don’t remember Schumacher having a slump. I don’t remember Hakkinen having a slump. I don’t remember Prost having a slump. I guess we will know how your theory works out by years end....

Sainz isn't Senna or Schumacher and its pretty stupid to make that comparison given they are top 5 all-time drivers. No one but you is holding him to that type of standard.

As for drivers going through slumps or taking time to figure out cars, yes, it happens. I'd count Lewis' entire 2011 season as a slump. Kimi had multiple underperforming stints. Ricciardo has had a few and is arguably in the middle of one now. Bottas had a few too.

It happens. Best thing to do at this point is put your efforts into helping your driver/player in the best possible place to succeed. Long season to go.

Why not compare him to some of the best? I’m sure he does to himself and I’d think less of him if he didn’t. Should he be striving for mediocrity as you wish him, it seems? Seems stupid to strive for mediocrity when you’re driving a Ferrari, but maybe that’s just me.

In fact, would you like to be compared to mediocrity or the best in your line of work? I certainly wouldn’t want to be compared to mediocrity because mediocrity isn’t satisfying. You think Sainz thinks mediocrity is satisfying? Maybe mediocrity is ok with you.

I’m absolutely not saying to fire him mid season. That would be foolish. I’m saying if he hasn’t figured it by end of season, he’s likely not going to. The car is too good to be suffering from a driver that can’t figure it out. If he does, great, but if he hasn’t by September, it may be time to look elsewhere. Ferrari would be foolish to not be considering by then if he’s still fumbling by fall. And for what it’s worth I want the guy to succeed. I think he’s a good chap. Really. But he’s gotta step up. This is getting old. His driving is unacceptable currently. Just the way it is.

The thing is, where do you go? From their junior programme, who is worth a raw shot in a Ferrari (meaning, not coming up through Haas or Alfa)? Leclerc (Arthur) from F3? Do you think Mick Schumacher is much better than Sainz? Do you give Giovinazzi a shot? If I'm not mistaken, any other junior drivers are tied up with other teams (Piastri with Alpine, Pourchaire with Alfa, etc). And of the current drivers who have contracts expiring at the end of this year, the only one I'd give a shot to is maaaaybe Gasly.

[JPower]

Why not compare him to some of the best? I’m sure he does to himself and I’d think less of him if he didn’t. Should he be striving for mediocrity as you wish him, it seems? Seems stupid to strive for mediocrity when you’re driving a Ferrari, but maybe that’s just me.

In fact, would you like to be compared to mediocrity or the best in your line of work? I certainly wouldn’t want to be compared to mediocrity because mediocrity isn’t satisfying. You think Sainz thinks mediocrity is satisfying? Maybe mediocrity is ok with you.

I’m absolutely not saying to fire him mid season. That would be foolish. I’m saying if he hasn’t figured it by end of season, he’s likely not going to. The car is too good to be suffering from a driver that can’t figure it out. If he does, great, but if he hasn’t by September, it may be time to look elsewhere. Ferrari would be foolish to not be considering by then if he’s still fumbling by fall. And for what it’s worth I want the guy to succeed. I think he’s a good chap. Really. But he’s gotta step up. This is getting old. His driving is unacceptable currently. Just the way it is.

Because he's not Senna or Schumacher. The only other people in history could reach a level of consistently elite speed they could in almost anything they drove are Fangio, Clark, and Hamilton(I could Prost and Alonso in there too). While Sainz personally should aspire to be the best, I'm objectively not going to hold him to a Schumacher level and I seriously doubt Binotto or Elkann do either. That's not to say any of them them expect mediocrity and nothing in my post suggested such.

I just don't see any need to speculate about his status within the team. Acting like this is some do or die situation 6 races into the season is silly. His driving thus far has been spotty but honestly not much different from how he started 2021. I'm confident he'll be where he needs to be eventually.

The thing is, where do you go? From their junior programme, who is worth a raw shot in a Ferrari (meaning, not coming up through Haas or Alfa)? Leclerc (Arthur) from F3? Do you think Mick Schumacher is much better than Sainz? Do you give Giovinazzi a shot? If I'm not mistaken, any other junior drivers are tied up with other teams (Piastri with Alpine, Pourchaire with Alfa, etc). And of the current drivers who have contracts expiring at the end of this year, the only one I'd give a shot to is maaaaybe Gasly.

Gasly makes more close quarters mistakes than almost any driver in the field and honestly, Tsunoda has been more than a match for him this year thus far.

To think Ferrari would look his direction at this point is funny.

[f1316]

FYI Hakinnen totally had a slump - in 2001 after losing the title the previous year, he dropped back behind Coulthard, then took a sabbatical and ultimately never returned.

But that’s kinda irrelevant. What I would say re Sainz is two things:

1. I don’t think he’s going anywhere any time soon; they just signed an extension, he’s clearly in the upper half of drivers in the grid and is probably also a little bit bearing the brunt of Leclerc performing extremely well (ie looks worse in comparison). I said the context extension was premature because probably they should have waited til mid season to assess how he coped with these new cars (since they’re very different) and that would have given Ferrari more options
2. Pretending that’s not true, I think Alonso is who I would personally have picked. I think he’s not the person he used to be in terms of potential disruption, would jump at the chance and could be relied on to maximise. I don’t think he’s as quick as Leclerc is any more but still driving beautifully

[JPBD1990]

https://i.imgur.com/i33GrBC.jpeg

This is my usual telemetry graph with a big twist, this is the average lap in the race, at least until Charles was in the race so for the first 24 laps.
As usual, yellow background is when at least 1 driver is not 100% throttle.
My observations are:

* Leclerc consistently better braking, at this point I think this is actually real since it happened every race except 2 corners in Imola. Ferrari can brake later.
* It's small, and people can argue here, but I think Hamilton was running a lot of downforce and drag. Yes he was lift-and-coasting, it's easy to see that, but his speed curve starts to lose steepness well before the yellow background (throttle lift/brake). I think Merc was running much bigger wings than the others, the car itself may not be too bad aside from wings because of the high speed with DRS active, but it's possible that the high amount of DF, with the high temperature really stressed the engine to keep up and that was part of the reason for overheating.
* Ferrari acceleration is quite impressive in just about any straight, particularly into T10 (~3300m) and finish line.
* Leclerc was doing a fantastic job nursing the tyres, slow through T3 and T9, and veeeery slow throttle application in T15 (S3 chicane)
* top speed wise the car is fine, in fact if I look at Sainz for the "whole" race, laps 2-50, Sainz is faster than anyone on track.

I think the car is the best car right now in terms of balance and optimal window.

Don’t want to get anyone too off topic, but I just have to say - Dialtone - what you do is absolutely EPIC and very much appreciated. THIS is why I come to F1 technical, not to read people’s petty bickering over drivers. Absolutely indebted to you my friend. THANK YOU

[.poz]

Sainz likes an understeering car with a stable rear, the F1-75 is a oversteering car with a pointy front and unstable rear

Futures updates will make easier to setup the car for CS drive style

[.poz]

* Leclerc consistently better braking, at this point I think this is actually real since it happened every race except 2 corners in Imola. Ferrari can brake later.

Is the car or is Leclerc ? My impression is that Leclers is using a V shape trajectory on turns more than others and having the car going (almost) straight for more time allows breaking harder (and later)

sure the pointy front of the F1-75 helps V shape trajectory

[dialtone]

* Leclerc consistently better braking, at this point I think this is actually real since it happened every race except 2 corners in Imola. Ferrari can brake later.

Is the car or is Leclerc ? My impression is that Leclers is using a V shape trajectory on turns more than others and having the car going (almost) straight for more time allows breaking harder (and later)

sure the pointy front of the F1-75 helps V shape trajectory

Great question, here's Sainz for the same period against Leclerc:


The laps that I consider, and that's true for all of these average graphs so far, are without DRS. If possible Sainz is braking even later in some corners.

By the looks of it Sainz is doing a slightly worse job keeping the tyres fresh, or he may have had slightly less downforce at the front which ended up costing tyre life in the end. Also contributed to Ferrari having the best speed in the race without DRS sign of good balance between drag and downforce and engine.

[JPower]

Great question, here's Sainz for the same period against Leclerc:
https://i.imgur.com/kG7Hiz3.png

The laps that I consider, and that's true for all of these average graphs so far, are without DRS. If possible Sainz is braking even later in some corners.

By the looks of it Sainz is doing a slightly worse job keeping the tyres fresh, or he may have had slightly less downforce at the front which ended up costing tyre life in the end. Also contributed to Ferrari having the best speed in the race without DRS sign of good balance between drag and downforce and engine.

Was this before or after the spin?

[dialtone]

Great question, here's Sainz for the same period against Leclerc:
https://i.imgur.com/kG7Hiz3.png

The laps that I consider, and that's true for all of these average graphs so far, are without DRS. If possible Sainz is braking even later in some corners.

By the looks of it Sainz is doing a slightly worse job keeping the tyres fresh, or he may have had slightly less downforce at the front which ended up costing tyre life in the end. Also contributed to Ferrari having the best speed in the race without DRS sign of good balance between drag and downforce and engine.

Was this before or after the spin?

Thanks for the question, you helped me discover an embarassing bug in my script that basically wasn't filtering for the laps I was selecting, and was comparing Sainz full race against LEC half race, and so did for the other graph with VER and HAM comparing full races of everyone instead of the lap interval I intended. Turns out that Ferrari was actually even a bit more dominant than before...

Lap 2-8 LEC v HAM v VER


* Chose these laps because nobody is impeded in this group. Everyone is in clean air, VER is 1-2s behind LEC, which helps his top speed a bit in the straights but no more than 4-5kph.
* Lots more top speed difference, in this case minimal, if any at all, lift & coast from Mercedes, Hamilton is actually the last to lift in a bunch of corners, so the top speed difference is real, not just result of lift and coast.
* T6-7-8 Leclerc is truly dominant, given the top speeds I doubt that he was particularly more loaded wing-wise so this has to be whole package downforce. In particular T8 is a big difference between them, like 0.2-0.3s just there.
* LEC and VER are doing great tyre saving, HAM less so and his first stint actually tires fell off a cliff quite quickly.

The fix in the script doesn't change much between SAI and LEC but it becomes easier to see the damage to the diffuser:


These are laps 2-24. Any medium speed corner is really a struggle for SAI, especially T8, and S3 is a bit more difficult too. Other than those 2 points the drivers are basically the same through the first 24 laps.