After the Melbourne Grand Chelem conquered by Charles Leclerc, pole position, fastest lap, victory and leading all laps, with a gap of more than 20 seconds from Perez, we are already thinking about Imola. Among other things, the last time that Ferrari conquered the Grand Chelem with such an important gap in the race was with Michael Schumacher at the Spanish Grand Prix in 2002 with more than 35 seconds of gap from the second. The questions everyone is asking now are: What updates will Ferrari bring? Is she favorite to win?
Let's answer by analyzing the data. The Maranello team brought a stacked diffuser, similar to Red Bull's, which they tested on Leclerc's car to Friday's Australian free practice. The update will probably be approved later, it is thought in Barcelona. While the novelty that will arrive at Imola is the modification to the bottom of the F1-75. During free practice, Leclerc used sensors (one on the front wing and the others on the sides of the car) to check the changes in height of the single-seater, precisely in anticipation of the development at the bottom that will arrive for the next race. However, Binotto specified that the Imola update will not bring major changes to the car, because there is little time to test important updates, as there is also the Sprint Race and there will be no Free Practice 3. Furthermore, the Imola track is in favor of the red bike and lower speeds are reached compared to the 3 previous tracks where the races took place, Bahrain, Jeddah and Melbourne, so porpoising will also be lower. Last year Perez set a weekend top speed of 303km/h, which is 16km/h less than Melbourne's top speed of 319km/h.
Is Ferrari favorite to win? Yes, Ferrari remains the favorite at Imola, much more than at previous tracks. Beware of Red Bull updates (weight reduction and rear wing modifications) which would improve the performance of the RB18 by 2/3 tenths per lap. Verstappen will also use the third power unit, limiting the penalty of replacing the fourth, but will still have a performance boost thanks to the new Honda engine.
Mercedes remains an unknown factor. Imola is certainly a more favorable track for the F1 W13, which can hide the limitations of the Stuttgart power unit. In addition, there will be an update to the rear wing, which will be smaller and more discharged, as well as a new bottom to further reduce porpoising. We'll see if the innovations that Mercedes will bring will give the desired results, or if they will be another hole in the water as was the case in previous grands prix.
These are all the news for Imola, in conclusion, I think Ferrari can have a good race, also seeing the excellent tire management of the F1-75, which did not show any "graining", as happened to Red Bull and all 'Alpine way too much in Melbourne. Furthermore, the track is very driven and a lot of front load is needed, values that all go in favor of the Maranello car. Sold-out tickets are expected at Imola and we hope that Ferrari will be able to give further satisfaction to its fans.
