zibby43 wrote: ↑22 Feb 2020, 21:29
JPBD1990 wrote: ↑22 Feb 2020, 15:08
The more I read Binotto’s comments, the more I wonder if they’ve got something up their sleeve. In particular, he said they’re operating the car at the extremes of suspension and aero setup to correlate on track and simulator data. This could certainly explain why their lap times dropped off so quickly on any given stint. Combined with low engine modes, stuff started to fall into place...
Of course, could be total wishful thinking
Or this car is still chewing up the tires. The concerning things, in my mind, are the following: 1) the car still understeers and performs poorly in slow corners (and the sliding chews up the tires); 2) Ferrari completed around 140 laps less than Merc/Red Bull (that's the equivalent to about 2 race distances less running, which isn't insignificant); 3) the PU.
All that said, I would be absolutely shocked if Ferrari aren't closer to the top 3 than they are the leading midfield car come time for Australia.
I agree with all of those things (Except the power unit, I’m quite sure that will be excellent - they won’t have gone backwards), and I ultimately do think we’re behind but not by as much as it might seem.
Again, I’m not trying to use Binotto’s words as a way of saying we’re actually crushing the field - only trying to make sense of them.
All of what you described could be covered by his explanation of running the aero/suspension as ‘extremes’. This could help them set up their simulator back at Maranello so they can understand what X toe, X camber, X ride height, X aero load - REALLY do, instead of just simulating it.
I think this could help through the season, and in Australia. I think the mistake they made last year was happening upon a great setup, which made them look fast, so they stopped exploring and just honed in on that. I think that screwed them for other races/tracks and left them unable to setup the car.
This is again all just one possibility. The other is they’re completely out to sea. Time will tell.