Seanspeed wrote: ↑06 Mar 2025, 21:35
SoulPancake13 wrote: ↑06 Mar 2025, 21:04
Seanspeed wrote: ↑06 Mar 2025, 13:05
Doesn't change that Mclaren started behind and ended convincingly ahead.
Ferrari are NOT on par with Mclaren in terms of development. No team on the grid currently is. Every single year for the past three years Mclaren have managed to bring game changing improvements to their car. The confidence in their technical department is likely at a high they've not had for decades. Ferrari has improved a lot, but is not yet on that same kind of level.
Which is also why Ferrari cannot afford to spend a third of the season figuring the car out. If the car doesn't show immediate and strong race winning potential early on, Mclaren will essentially have it in the bag. Maybe things would be different most seasons, but with 2026 looming, getting a strong start for this year is important for the title fight.
Ferrari had to change their entire concept for 2024 meanwhile McLaren figured it out in Austria in 2023. Of course they were ahead of us in development. Ferrari competing for race wins after the Monza upgrade given how much they were actually behind McLaren is nothing less than remarkable. I don't get why you seem to be so negative about the team.
Of course, we will wait and see until next week(for an unrepresentative track ironically) and go from there. I think the reaction from Wache(we were hiding the most during testing) is realistic given it is in line with what I have personally observed.
Ferrari made a massive concept change mid-2023 as well. 2024 was only a continuation of that.
I think one area where Ferrari were on the backfoot is simply having the huge problem of giving up on the innovative and very strong 2022 design direction. Mclaren were a bit more fluid in this regard because they hadn't so strongly committed to any different direction, and obviously not any design direction that got demolished by an FIA directive.
That said, the best design and engineering teams in F1 adapt, and that's an area that Mclaren have simply done better. It took them a little longer to overtake us, but they have done so confidently without any slipups.
I dont think it's likely Ferrari have secretly been hiding world beating pace, but it's obviously not technically impossible. If you want to hold onto that hope, cool.
They changed the concept in 2023, that is true but remember that they were hindered with the position of lower SIS which was too high so they were limited in exploiting that concept.
