The summer break is over: Formula 1 will start up again next week with the 2022 Belgian Grand Prix that will be held at the legendary and renovated Spa Francorchamps . And the Maranello factory reopens its doors, there is no festive day after the holidays imposed by the FIA regulations.
Ferrari wants to return to the track to forget the painful disappointment of the last Hungarian Grand Prix, since at the Hungaroring the Italian team hoped to assert its technical superiority and the objective was to achieve a double that would allow Charles Leclerc to reduce the distance currently separates from the world leader, Max Verstappen.
The Monegasque, after a race to forget at Ferrari, finished sixth, increasing his disadvantage to 80 points in the general classification, greatly complicating his options in the Formula 1 world championship.
Ferrari , therefore, begins the second part of the season with the aim of making the most of the good performance they have shown on a technical level, after adding much less than expected considering the potential of their car. For that reason, Spa-Francorchamps will be an important and even crucial event.
The Belgian GP not only represents the restart of the season, but the race at the Ardennes circuit will kick off a treble that also includes the Zandvoort and Monza events.
This trio of events should indicate what the Scuderia’s future objective is in this second half of 2022: defend itself against Mercedes, which has been placed just 30 points behind in the constructors’ championship, or attack Red Bull Racing in search of the victory?
In Belgium , TD39 will come into force, which modifies the FIA’s controls on the flexing of the car’s floor: in Maranello they are calm because according to the simulations they will not lose too much performance and the F1-75 will continue to be very competitive.
Aerodynamicists have been working on a package of novelties for these fast tracks, with a rear wing that will seek even more efficiency with the movable wing open and other modifications aimed at reducing drag on the car.
Friday practice will play a key strategic role, as Ferrari could decide to take a strategic double step: homologate a new thermal engine for Charles Leclerc , the fifth of the season, which would only mean five penalty positions on the grid.
The 066/7 has been revised and modified after being able to work on reliability, in addition, this new version of the power unit should also include the latest evolution of the hybrid part, which must be homologated before the freeze to be maintained until 2025.
Those from Maranello, therefore, could contest the races at Spa-Francorchamps, Zandvoort and Monza with a new and somewhat more powerful engine (there is talk of about fifteen CV).
The Cavallino engineers only hope to have a normal Friday, without setbacks or adverse weather conditions, in order to plan the best possible strategy for the start of this second half of 2022.
