Ferrari will introduce a “significant” engine upgrade to boost performance in the second half of 2021, Mattia Binotto has revealed.
The Scuderia is facing a familiar foe in McLaren for third in the Constructors’ Championship, with both teams tied on 163 points following Sebastian Vettel’s disqualification at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
And while development on the car was halted a long time ago to focus solely on the new regulations for 2022, Ferrari has a potential ace up their sleeve having taken a very different approach on the power unit.
“The 2021 regulations say you may have a brand new PU (power unit), so it means you may bring an update in all the components – ICE, turbo, batteries, MGU-H, MGU-K, electronics,” team boss Binotto explained.
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“But with what we made at the start of the season we didn’t complete the full development. There are still parts on it from last year.
“We will bring an evolution to those which will be a significant step for the end of the season and gaining experience for ‘22.”
Exactly when the new engine will be used is unknown although it is likely to be in time for Ferrari’s home race at Monza next month.
But the revelation that the Italian team has yet to update every element of the power unit for this year is surprising given the gains in performance compared to their torrid 2020.
“As a team and a car there are improvements and the direction is encouraging,” Binotto commented.
“There are still gaps to the best but that 0.7s deficit is not from any single area but is a sum of aerodynamics, power unit, overall systems.
“I don’t think we are lacking only in one area which is good because that would mean you need to recover a lot in that single area. Which can be more difficult.”
Ferrari’s improvements this year are not just limited to the car’s performance either.
“Our objective was to improve in all the areas in 2021,” Binotto continued.
“As an example, the pitstops. I always consider a good pitstop below 3s. That may sound a high number, but in strategy, it’s more important to be consistent, not only fast.
“Because what is destroying a race is sometimes a problem and you are stopped for 4.5s or 5s or 6s. 84% of our stops this year have been below 3s. Last year 48%. Pit crew, mechanics – we’ve certainly improved there.
“Last year we were eighth in the pit stops by this measure. Today we are P2, with only one team [Red Bull] doing better than us.”