F1 | Ferrari, in Imola to overtake the McLaren

Omnia cum tempore. And the time to finally shake off disappointment and negativity now seems to have arrived. In the Imola GP, Ferrari will try to raise the bar further, trying to improve its performance compared to Bahrain, where it was the fourth force on the track.

The objective is to get ahead of the chasing group, immediately behind the duo, currently distant, formed by Mercedes and Red Bull. In the impossibility of annoying the declared queens of this championship, the Red team will have to do its utmost to reach the minimum objective, namely third place in the Constructors.

There has already been an improvement compared to the terrible 2020, but due to history and tradition, Ferrari cannot and must not be content to scrape by without praise and infamy in the points zone, like any mid-line team. Although on paper the close battle with McLaren, Aston Martin, AlphaTauri and Alpine appears uncertain and therefore fun, in practice seeing Ferrari fluctuate between sixth and eighth place causes anything but joy or fun. On the contrary.

For this reason, Cavallino's minimum objective already in Imola must be to outclass McLaren and redesign the hierarchies on the track in its favour. The Rossa, enormously evolved compared to the unfortunate previous season, has the potential to return at least close to the positions that count. From this point of view, Imola is perfect. The circuit is different in characteristics from that of Sakhir; if in the desert of Bahrain engine and traction reigned supreme, on the banks of the Santerno, where more load is needed when cornering, we will have proof of the aerodynamic goodness of the SF21.

The historic curves of Imola will test the (hopefully rediscovered) efficiency of Ferrari, which it will have to demonstrate to have definitively overcome the problems of rear instability, insertion and resistance to advancement. A possible step backwards compared to Bahrain would mean that the path taken from the point of view of the aerodynamic concept is in fact wrong and that the SF21 is little more than an SF1000 with a valid engine (what the most skeptics claim).

Conversely, a Ferrari that went strong in Emilia Romagna, demonstrating further progress, would demonstrate that the entire package has improved, and that the road taken to get back on top is less arduous than expected. The Italian Scuderia is the team that has improved the most compared to 2020, nevertheless it suffers the constant prejudice of an environment that has lost faith in a management that in fact certainly cannot be said to be positive.

Leaving Imola with the role of third force on the track would be an injection of confidence and an impetus towards the rest of the season. The objective of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc must be to precede the two McLarens under the checkered flag.

Antonino Rendina

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