F1 | It's only free practice, but how nice to have a live Ferrari

There is life in Maranello, there is life in Bahrain. A sigh of relief after an apnea that lasted a winter, if not a year. Ferrari's 2020 was horrible, too bad to be true, but some positive signs could be (glimpsed) in a timid development of the now consigned to the past SF1000, in the almost certainty of being able to archive a throttled engine due to the "disguised penalty" and be able to once again have a power unit not only in name, but also in fact.

The rest was entrusted to the skill of the technicians, in the hope that they would find the aerodynamic efficiency lost by the underperforming SF1000. Mattia Binotto, whose management has so far been characterized by more shadows than lights, has kept the bar straight in the storm, reorganizing the team, but with the same men, and without acting from the gut. Even with the engines switched off, the SF21 appeared more aerodynamically refined and made a good impression in the tests.

The free practice of the Bahrain GP gave a first, timid but comforting, confirmation. The Red car in the hands of Leclerc and Sainz has appeared fast on the straight, balanced, soft when entering turns, in a few words drivable. Carlos Sainz even complained about a certain oversteer on entry, a circumstance which is almost newsworthy if we consider that last year's car literally didn't "turn", with Vettel and Charles having to fight with the steering, losing centuries on the way.

The Ferrari drivers seemed to be on the ball on the flying lap and Carlos' race pace on medium tires was overall decent, far from Verstappen's monstrous pace with the Red Bull, but on par with that of his closest rivals. Leclerc's work was different, as he lapped for a long time on the soft tyres, and therefore suffered naturally higher degradation.

After all, the objective is not to aspire to the title, bridging a gap that is too wide with the leaders, but to reinsert oneself in the positions that belong to a renowned team like Cavallino. Or at least fight for third place in the Constructors' Championship. The impression is that Ferrari, found one cavalry living up to its name and having surgically intervened on the weak points - namely stability at the rear axle and resistance to progress - has come up with a truly interesting package.

It is said that if a car is born well you can immediately notice it. Well the feeling is precisely this, that the SF21 is a good single-seater. The well-founded hope is to be able to see a Ferrari that annoys the front runners, cheeky, bold enough, fast. A thorn in the side for those teams, such as McLaren and Aston, who had already claimed the right to look at the Scuderia from top to bottom.

Oh no, there is pride here, even Binotto opened up in his statements, confirming to the Gazzetta: “We won't fight for the title this year, but I can promise that we will fight for the positions we deserve, demonstrating that our progress is real”.

Ferrari has once again given the impression of knowing how to design fast single-seaters, and this is the news that shines brightest under the lights of the Sakhir desert.

Antonino Rendina

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