Sanchez: In general, the nature of the track has remained the same

This year, the Ferrari team will enter the third leg of the season and lead in both standings of the championship. Before the Australian Grand Prix, the Scuderia’s press service asked David Sanchez, one of the makers of the F1-75 car, a few questions†

Q: How to characterize the circuit in Albert Parks from an aerodynamicist’s point of view? How will the changes made during the reconstruction affect qualifying and race preparation?
David Sanchez: In terms of features, Albert Park is close to what we would call a track that requires a moderate level of downforce. There are slow and fast corners, as well as fairly long straights. In addition, this is a track where it is very important to get good acceleration out of the corners.

With the new ring configuration, the speeds will increase significantly and the lap time will be reduced by a few seconds. Most corners have been redesigned, they are wider, and this allows cars to maintain a higher speed in the apex than before.

Turns 1 and 2, 6 and 7 as well as 11 and 12 are relatively fast so it will be very interesting to see how the new generation machines handle these sections. We also expect that good tire handling will be one of the most important factors on which success in the Australian race depends.

Finally, let me remind you that the old track in Melbourne was very uneven, so during practice it is important to find out how much the cars will increase lengthwise at high speeds on the straights.

Q: To what extent will the team benefit from the information gathered in 2019, when we last played at Albert Park, as the new generation of cars has become completely different?
David Sanchez: Although the redesigned configuration promises an increase in speeds, the track has generally kept its former character. Success here still depends on aerodynamic efficiency and good acceleration out of corners.

This allows you to refer to the information gathered in previous years when we performed here, but it needs to be looked at critically so that nothing important is missed during training.

We also spent a lot of time working with the new car on the simulator, so we hope that when we go to work on the track, the drivers will be more or less comfortable behind the wheel.

Q: What impressed you the most at the start of the new season?
David Sanchez: It is important that we have worked without significant problems from the very beginning of the winter testing. The new machines, while outwardly simpler than previous models, are in fact very complex equipment that presents us with serious challenges.

It seems that we basically anticipated them and solved them more or less successfully, and when unexpected problems arose, for example when the build-up of the car started, the team reacted very quickly.

It’s also impressive that our team and its main rival on the track are showing quite similar speeds, even though our cars are completely new.