Ferrari, we can finally see some light at the end of the tunnel

A small flame in the distance, a glimmer of hope and confidence that at least reassures, not a full of optimism, but at least the concrete possibility that among the many possible paths the one recently undertaken by Ferrari is the right one.

In a world championship that is an ordeal, even the evolutionary package for the SF1000 has been sipped and reasoned, and only after three races - Sochi, Nurburgring and Portimao - can we actually draw a judgment on the quality of the innovations brought to the track by the Cavallino. Wings, badgeboards, revised rear suspension, finally bottom and extractor. A small revolution of the disappointing aerodynamic dress of the now damned SF1000, with the comforting fact of the effectiveness and functionality of the updates.

The news - fourth place on Portuguese soil aside - is that Ferrari has actually managed to take a step forward overall and above all that the updates work, which is not always a given if one studies the recent history of the Cavallino, made up of bitter disappointments under the heading of developments in the current season.

In a now gone world championship, which among other things is contested with only Leclerc, given that Vettel is in the championship in his own right at the back for multiple reasons that we will not go into here yet (but that's enough!), all the work of the men from Maranello – as confirmed by the chief designer Simone Resta to the weekly Autosprint – is concentrated with a view to 2021. Today's developments are the basis of tomorrow's single-seater, the one which – thanks to a completely new Power Unit that promises very well on the bench – should bring the Red in the podium area, leaving behind these positions that are not hers's responsibility.

This is why, although the overall performance still leaves something to be desired, one can be timidly optimistic about the immediate future. Ferrari will not close the gap with Mercedes in 2021, it would be impossible given the freezing of a large part of the single-seater (the Ferrari will spend the two tokens foreseen by the regulations to modify the rear axle, seeking stability and with the intention of making better use of the tyres) , but with at least "decent" cavalry it is easy to imagine a nice leap forward, considering that from the point of view of the chassis and aerodynamics Maranello is demonstrating that it knows where to intervene, improving in an almost unexpected way.

The Red team faces a thousand criticisms for the management of the team, for the technical debacle, for the inaction on the technical market, as well as for having lost engineers of absolute caliber over the years, but in the general difficulty it must be acknowledged that it has managed to refine a single-seater that seemed beyond repair. It is still too little, but it is a positive indication for the future. While waiting for the regulation change in 2022 and with a game still open on the engine freezing front, we welcome the improvements of the unfortunate SF1000, hoping that the good performance seen in Portugal will be confirmed in Imola, a circuit which without the low variant presents some critical issues more for Ferrari and its strangled "engine".

It would be nice, however, if Leclerc managed to achieve a good result on the banks of the Santerno, in the racetrack that bears the name Ferrari and where the last time was raced in 2006: when a stellar Michael Schumacher tamed a very young and aggressive Fernando Alonso for 62 laps on Renault. We won't see anything similar, but the Monegasque has placed the Red on the second row in the last two races and if there's no two without three we can only hope that he will entertain us, at least a little.

Antonino Rendina

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