General
'Ferrari starts season in Austria with 20 horsepower extra'
- GPblog.com
Ferrari was one of the first F1 teams to close its factory doors in response to the corona virus. Italy is considered to be one of the hardest hit countries, but slowly but surely life is being picked up there again. This is also the case at Ferrari, which has opened its doors to start working with the SF1000 before the season - expected to start on July 5 in Austria.
Three shifts per day
It is a fact that Ferrari didn't make a great impression in Barcelona during the winter tests, so they have to get to work if they are to be successful in Austria. Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport has looked extensively at what Ferrari is going to do now to make up for the alleged backlog. This way they will be competitive at the start of the season.
The Italian medium writes that Ferrari works in shifts of three a day to make progress. A lot of attention would be paid to the engine, which they would like to debut on the Red Bull Ring in an improved version. 'On paper the developments in the coming weeks should yield about 20 HP extra', writes La Gazzetta dello Sport.
Ferrari would like to realise this 'with the help of a new cylinder head, in which the combustion chamber is 'warm''. As a result, combustion should be optimised and that gives the extra bit of power. Furthermore, the SF1000 would be equipped with improved software regarding the hybrid system. The existing software would have been rewritten and is now being finished.
Other upgrades
Another - somewhat older story - is that Ferrari is also going to work on the nose of the SF1000, where the team would consider going back to the specifications used in Singapore in 2019. There would also have to be adjustments to the top of the car. There the focus is mainly on the air supply to the engine.
Ferrari has to make all these small and large adjustments about a month and a half. Whether that is enough to get closer to Red Bull Racing and Mercedes will have to wait and see, they will not sit still once they resume their work at full speed.