Formula 1: The August change that destroyed Ferrari’s title dreams

The Scuderia are now finding it extremely difficult, according to German reports, to unravel the FIA-imposed technical guideline (TD39) on porpoise control with the main issue that has prevented them from claiming a single victory since the Belgian GP to date : excessive tire wear.

Charles Leclerc won by walk in Austria and was fully competitive later that month at the French GP before losing control of the F1-75 and victory to Paul Ricard. But from the Hungarian GP, ​​when teams started applying Technical Instruction 39 – before officially implementing it at Spa in Belgium – the F1-75 was a completely different car.

The Cavallino, victorious in Spielberg, Austria with excellent tire management, was now taxing his tires so much that Leclerc and Carlos Sainz lost hope of converting the car’s speed into victories in Sunday’s qualifying, which is where tire management in particular comes into play in the sets of laps between pit stops.

Prior to the implementation of Technical Guideline 39, there was speculation that it would adversely affect both Ferrari and Red Bull, with RBR director Christian Horner implying that Mercedes F1 director Toto Wolff was jumping behind the technical guideline due to W13’s major problems stuck.

However, the technical directive, which also limited the elasticity of the bottoms of the cars to 2 millimeters, proved to be disadvantageous only for Ferrari. At the time, Scuderia director Mattia Binotto denied that the TD39 had any negative impact on the F1-75, but now that view is gaining ground – even at Maranello and in everything to do with tire management.

Now, as per the German press, the Ferrari F1-75’s tire management problems and the FIA’s Technical Guideline 39 came at exactly the same time, and now even Scuderia itself is finding it difficult to deny such a connection.

In particular, the competition from Ferrari is said to have noticed that after Belgium, the F1-75 had to be adjusted for increased ground clearance, which had a significant impact not only on its balance and thus on its tire management.

Scuderia unveiled a modified floor at the Japanese GP, their latest car development of the year, with the main aim of improving tire management. And Binotto said that “It works as expected, the data confirm the development step. The lap speed is there, now we have to see what we can do differently with tire management.”concluded the Italian.

And this is an area that’s particularly critical for Scuderia as it nears the completion of car design in 2023, when Ferrari is expected to return to title racing in the next Formula 1 championship.

Photo credit: Scuderia Ferrari press office