Former Ferrari race engineer Rob Smedley has branded the Scuderia’s performance at the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix as “soul-destroying” after failing to improve performance despite a high number of upgrades.
The Maranello-based squad arrived in Miami with 11 different upgrades to its SF-26 car, more than any other team, including an apparently-permanent reintroduction of its ‘Macarena’ wing.
But the team flattered to deceive in the Sunshine State, with Lewis Hamilton sixth and Charles Leclerc eighth [initially sixth before a post-race 20-second penalty].
The result was surely a demoralising one, given its modest but reasonable start to the campaign, scoring three podiums from the first three races.
But with McLaren trajectory of improvement from Suzuka continuing, and Red Bull also showing a rapid level of advancement, Ferrari were left somewhat floundering.
Speaking on the High Performance Podcast, Smedley was left to rue his former team’s performance, indicating it could lead to a spiral within its ranks.
“It’s slightly soul-destroying because it starts from a technical point of view. It starts essentially this negative loop that you’ve then got to [decipher],” he said.
“What did you bring? What’s working? What’s not working?”
Smedley continued: “If it’s not correlating, as in the wind tunnel or your simulation tools are not matching what’s on track, you’ve then got to do this whole reverse engineering process where you go back to the tunnel.
“And that holds up all of the development in the tunnel that you should be doing.”
With F1 returning in Montreal next week, Ferrari will be looking to shake off its Miami misery for a Canadian comeback.
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