Ferrari is almost completely abandoning the development of its F1 2021 car for 2022

After the 2020 season, which was a real disaster for the Scuderia, Ferrari started its 2021 campaign well, finding a good race pace and battling for third place in the constructors’ championship with Woking’s team, McLaren. However, the Italian team recently declared that it is turning almost completely towards 2022. Laurent Mekies, Ferrari’s sporting director, said in Barcelona: “We are already pretty much fully focused on 2022. If you want to put a number on it, we could say that 90%, 95% of our resources are turned towards 2022. No matter how much, but that’s roughly where we are.”

McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl seemed worried about Ferrari’s strong pace during the Spanish Grand Prix and therefore suggested bringing new updates in the upcoming races. Ferrari Sporting Director Laurent Mekies also commented on this, however, ambitions seem to be different at Ferrari: “It is very clear for us, we are focused on 2022. The fact that the field is tight and that sometimes only a few hundredths or tenths will switch from third place to sixth will not change our strategy,” said the Ferrari Sporting Director.

Translate: « We have already allocated the vast majority of our resources to it. This does not mean that some details will not change on the car from now on, as we all do with what we learn on the track. But the focus is on next year. »

« The focus is on next year, it is a clear decision »

The lack of development in 2021 is not experienced as a frustration by the team according to the French engineer, emphasizing the advantage of being able to compare the data from one Grand Prix to another without having to cross-reference the data in the event of new developments being brought on-site.

« I think it’s rather good news for race engineers, because your progress is always somewhat masked by the amount of development you bring. » he added.

Ferrari team is currently well placed in the championship unlike last year, in 4th place just 5 points behind McLaren in 3rd place. With the noted performances of competitors, the 3rd place is clearly attainable by the team. It should be noted that all teams must concentrate at some point sooner or later in the season on the following season and therefore Ferrari is not alone in limiting its developments. It is strategically interesting for them to do so now.