Of the several conclusions we’ll be able to draw at the end of this season, one of the big ones is that Ferrari will need to make major reliability improvements for 2023 if it’s going to challenge for the championship next year.
The Italian team has been badly hamstrung by power unit failures this year, and while it thinks it’s got a handle on a temporary fix for its fiery failures, it’s not yet sure it can eliminate them from its engines completely.
The team has suffered six DNFs this season, four of which have been down to sudden power unit stoppages. Combined with ensuing penalties, it’s certainly cost Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz shots at hauling in Max Verstappen in the title chase.
Watch every practice, qualifying and race of the 2022 FIA Formula One World Championship™ live on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
But Ferrari isn’t the only team suffering with engine endurance, and Mattia Binotto has used the recent penalty confusion at the Italian and Belgian grands prix to contend that the limit on power unit parts is too low and spoiling the show.
With the number of races set to increase next season, you can understand why he’d have one eye on an increased engine pool.
Meanwhile, Mercedes is staying focused on itself when it comes to matters of 2023, with decisions needing to be made about what it hopes will be the car that returns it to title contention after a demoralising year — though Lewis Hamilton is keeping his fingers crossed that a lucky win might yet be coming his way before November.
FERRARI WANTS ENGINE ALLOWANCE INCREASE AMID PENALTY PROBLEMS
Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto says confusion over the grid at the Italian Grand Prix is a sign the FIA should consider raising the engine allowance for next season.
Nine of the 20 drivers served penalties for exceeding their quote of power unit parts in Monza. Only one driver, Charles Leclerc, started where he qualified.
It came just two rounds after a similar situation at the Belgian Grand Prix, where eight drivers copped engine penalties.
It took the FIA almost four hours to publish the provisional starting grid in Monza, which Binotto said was a sign the regulations — both sporting and technical — aren’t fit for purpose.
“The reason why it took so long is that there are certainly different interpretations and the regulation is not clear enough,” he said.
“That‘s something we need to address certainly for the future — I think not only how we decide the grid position based on the penalties, I think the amount of penalties we got as well is too many.
“Maybe the three PUs per driver is too little at that stage for what we have achieved.
“Maybe it needs to be reconsidered for the next seasons.”
Power units comprise seven different components. Each car is limited to three combustion engines, turbochargers, MGU-Hs and MGU-Ks; two batteries and control electronics; and eight exhaust systems.
The first breach of any of those limits incurs a 10-place grid penalty, with the second and subsequent breaches incurring five-place penalties.
Only five drivers have escaped penalties so far this season, those being the Aston Martin and Williams teammates as well as Daniel Ricciardo, though his McLaren stopped with a power unit problem at the end of the Italian Grand Prix.
But Ferrari has been particularly badly affected by engine problems this year after several catastrophic failures. Both drivers have exceeded their allocation of every element bar Sainz and his exhaust components.
The 2023 season could feature as many as 24 rounds, meaning each power unit will have to last at least eight race weekends. Some components needing to last 12 rounds to avoid penalties.
MERCEDES KEEPS ALL OPTIONS OPEN FOR 2023 CAR REDESIGN
George Russell says Mercedes is prepared to completely revolutionise its car next season if it thinks the current novel design can’t be improved.
Mercedes turned heads when it unveiled an ambitious no-sidepod design late in pre-season testing, but the W13 has proved difficult to master. Its best finish is a trio of second places, leaving the team third in the constructors standings and 174 points behind Red Bull Racing.
Team boss Toto Wolff, who has described the season as bouncing from “depression to exuberance”, has identified this month as a crucial window for decision-making about how much of the 2022 machine will continue in the 2023 design.
Speaking at the Italian Grand Prix, George Russell said Mercedes wasn’t ruling out wholesale changes to return itself to title contention next season.
MORE MOTORSPORT
MOTOGP MOTEGI: Typhoon puts this weekend’s Japanese GP at risk
ARAGON GP: The ticking time bomb that could decide title as crash chaos ignites MotoGP battle
RICCIARDO’S FUTURE: The big question mark that could decide Dan’s place in F1
“I think nothing’s off the table,” he said. “For sure we’ve got a pretty unique design with the sidepods. It’s not off the cards that we will continue with that design, but it is equally not off the cards that we will completely change philosophy.
“But ultimately whether we have the wide sidepods or the narrow sidepods isn’t the performance differentiator. There is more to it.”
Mercedes’s bigger problem has been the sensitivity of its floor, which needs to be run very low to achieve peak performance. At some circuits such a low ride height is impractical, leading to the swings in performance.
“I think we understand exactly why at circuits like Zandvoort and Budapest why we were competitive, and we understand why at circuits like [Monza] and Spa we were uncompetitive,” Russell said. “That doesn’t mean that we can solve the issues overnight.
“But we’ve got to keep on developing this car. Next year will sort of be an evolution of this, and I think now we do have a totally clear direction of how to develop the car.”
What exactly that direction is will only become clear once the W14 rolls out of the garage at pre-season testing.
HAMILTON DENIES UNIQUE WIN RECORD IS A PRIORITY
A side-effect of Mercedes’s winless ways is that Lewis Hamilton is facing the very real prospect of the first season of his car-racing career without a victory.
Hamilton made the full-time transition from karts to cars in 2002. His first year was spent in Formula Renault UK, in which he claimed three wins and finished third in the championship.
He’s won at least one race every year since.
Some years have been lean, like his single win in his first season with Mercedes 2013, while others have been bountiful, like his 11 victories in 2014 and 2018–20.
But despite taking six podiums this year, including a pair of second places, and despite teammate Russell starting the Hungarian Grand Prix from pole, victory has been agonisingly out of reach almost all year, and the difficult Mercedes W13 is threatening to end Hamilton’s enviable career run.
But Hamilton, who already has the record for most wins, poles and podiums and is tied with Michael Schumacher on a record seven championships, says losing his unusual benchmark isn’t on his mind — though he said he was sure he could keep it going.
“Honestly, it has zero importance to me,” he said. “I’m grateful that each year since 2007 we’ve had an opportunity to win, and I do believe that we’re going to have a chance this year. We’ve still got some races to go.
“That’s definitely a real big goal for us as a team, to get back to the front end and be fighting for the lead.”
But the Briton admitted he didn’t know when the win would come, with the car’s level of competitiveness proving somewhat unpredictable from circuit to circuit.
“I have no idea where our car is going to be great,” he said. “It was a surprise when we got in the car at Zandvoort and it felt so much better and completely different to the previous weekend.
“But I’m hoping, more often than not, it feels like Budapest and Zandvoort for the rest of the races.”
Mercedes is anticipating a stronger weekend at the slow-speed Singapore street circuit.
