I think the results today were the cumulative result of previous upgrade packages and the effect overall was pretty big even if Ferrari are downplaying it, much like Red Bull had a pretty big overall update today which wasn´t very visible on the surface. If you look at Hungary Leclerc was around 1.3 seconds off pole, today that was 7-tenths. Even if we assume quali mode contributed around 3 tenths around Hungary then we see Ferrari atleast nominally appear to have have clawed back around 3 tenths on a high DF track against Mercedes. Of course Mercedes have been barely updating their car so that´s there, at this stage probably they are focusing completely on the 2021 car and 2022 non-aero work. If the engine next year brings a big step then Ferrari shouldn´t be too far off the lead Red Bull next year. Maybe even good enough to make it a big 3 again next year. I don´t see Mclaren and Renault making massive steps next year, though the RP/Aston Martin is yet unknown especially if Merc makes another big engine step next year (as is rumoured).Emag wrote: ↑10 Oct 2020, 22:21You guys are severely overestimating the impact that those bargeboards may have on the car. There is no chance in hell that the bargeboards were responsible for >0.4 of gap between Seb and Charles today. You will almost never get improvements close to the region of half a second with just one small upgrade. I mean, teams bring whole upgrade packages, which may change the car significantly, and they still rarely get improvements that come close to half a second.
So even if they didn't put the new bargeboards on Vettel's car for qualifying, he shouldn't have been that far behind. It's Leclerc being more comfortable with the car. And for people who were surprised that they did good here. Ferrari did good back in Hungary too. And that was at the early part of the season. Now that they have introduced a couple of upgrades to the car, and have better understanding of their package, it really isn't that big of a surprise that they did good here too. A track which has similar characteristics with Hungary.
It is forbidden by the rules to work on 2022 cars till the 1st of January 2021*.Ringleheim wrote: ↑11 Oct 2020, 09:43Why is Ferrari bringing small update packages to the track?
This disappoints me; I wish the effort was diverted to the 2022 car.
bl4zar_ wrote: ↑11 Oct 2020, 12:41https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ej_NqkqXYAA ... =4096x4096
from @BettiolLuca (other charts available)
edit: I read where instead of why but yeah, I'll keep the chart as it's relevant nevertheless.
You could be onto something there. In the graph in the tweet you can see all the Ferrari engine teams made a big step towards Mercedes this weekend and are closer than they have been all year.
The issue in the first stint was caused by the temperature, they always have a problem getting the fronts to work in cold conditions (sometimes normal conditions as well), flash back to Hungary. I guess in qualifying it's easier to hide the problem with a preparation lap and tyre blankets but in the race it shows up and compromises them