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Ferrari bringing small upgrade to Miami
Ferrari will bring some new parts to the Miami Grand Prix this weekend but will not have a major upgrade.
The Scuderia is currently leading both championships, with an 11-point advantage over Red Bull in the constructors’ standings while Charles Leclerc heads the drivers’ championship.
After not bringing any new parts to the previous race at Imola, team principal Mattia Binotto says there will be some components that are specific to the new Miami International Autodrome but bigger updates will be a race or two later.
“We will not have the main one in Miami but we will still have a few parts on the car,” Binotto said. “Because Miami is a high-speed circuit compared to the ones we have had so far, so certainly in terms of downforce, we will run something different compared to what we had.
“We are quite confident, it’s quite an efficient one but we know as well Red Bull have got a good medium [to] low downforce package as well. They will be competitive.
“It will be a completely new track, a new challenge, quite interesting, pretty curious to be there. We will adapt our car in terms of downforce levels as I said which is important.
“We are still working on the porpoising which is still quite visible we’ve got it, certainly more than the Red Bull and in there, there’s still some performance potential that we need to try and get. These are the main ones for Miami but the main upgrades will come soon after.”
Miami’s long straights will put an emphasis on power unit performance, but Binotto believes it is a fairly even battle on that front between Ferrari and Red Bull.
“It’s true they had good speed once again at Imola. It was very difficult for us, or impossible to pass without the DRS situation. The fact that we have got more clipping, that’s a compromise which is a choice we made in terms of design. We still believe that our one is the right choice or the good choice.
“Yes the power unit is certainly competitive and Red Bull have got a good engine – as I think we have – but overall it’s very balanced between the two.”
Presented by:
Chris Medland
While studying Sports Journalism at the University of Central Lancashire, Chris managed to talk his way into working at the British Grand Prix in 2008 and was retained for three years before joining ESPN F1 as Assistant Editor. After three further years at ESPN, a spell as F1 Editor at Crash Media Group was followed by the major task of launching F1i.com’s English-language website and running it as Editor. Present at every race since the start of 2014, he has continued building his freelance portfolio, working with international titles. As well as writing for RACER, his broadcast work includes television appearances on F1 TV and as a presenter and reporter on North America's live radio coverage on SiriusXM.
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