Ferrari will use a few new parts next week in Miami, where the Italian team will presumably run a low downforce F1-75 for the new high-speed track, according to Mattia Binotto.
The Miami International Autodrome, which is built around the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, contains 19 corners spread out across 5.41 kilometres, but it also has multiple long straights where the emphasis on top will encourage teams to use low downforce setups.
Red Bull has enjoyed the advantage in terms of maximum velocity over its opponents so far this season, a fact that Ferrari is well aware of.
Ferrari will make a few targeted adjustments to its F1-75 in Miami, rather than a complete overhaul to accommodate the new venue’s layout.
“No, we will not have the main one in Miami, but still, we will have a few new parts on the car,” said Binotto.
“Because Miami is a high-speed circuit compared to the ones we had so far, in terms of downforce, we will run something different compared to what we have.”
“Hopefully the level of downforce we bring to Miami, we are quite confident it’s quite an efficient one.”
“But we know as well that Red Bull has got a good medium/low downforce package as well, and they will be competitive.”
“It will be a completely new track and new challenge, quite interesting, and I am pretty curious to be there.”
While Binotto recognised Ferrari’s top-speed shortfall to Red Bull, he believes the two teams are moving toward an aero compromise that will bring their cars’ downforce levels closer together.
“If I look at Jeddah, certainly they were a lot faster,” he added.
“If I look at Bahrain, there, the DRS effect was certainly powerful, and the way they were catching us on the straight was significant.”
“But then if I look at Australia, I think that they put on some downforce, and the speed was very similar between the two cars.”
“If you look at the rear wings they’ve got, certainly they increased the level of downforce. And I think when running on similar wings, we are pretty close on the speed as well. So, I don’t think there is a big difference in there.
“We know that we can improve our wings in order to make them more efficient, but I’m not expecting it to be an issue for certain circuits,” added Binotto.
“We as Ferrari, certainly will have new wings for medium-low downforce at the next races when necessary.”
“And then it’s only a matter of compromise, and the compromise on what you believe is best in terms of not only qualifying lap time, but race pace, and tyre degradation.”
“There have been races where I think our choice was the right one. Maybe in Jeddah, or just for, let me say, for a few laps, theirs turned out to be the right one.”
“But that, I think, is great: the fact that we may have different solutions, different setups, choices, makes only the race more spectacular.”
