F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Ferrari drops new SF71-H floor for remainder of race weekend

Ferrari has opted to race its SF71-H in Mexico equipped with the car’s old floor following a comparative test on Friday in which the updated component did not prove more efficient.

The Scuderia had introduced its revised floor in Austin, but a lack of dry running at COTA did not allow for a relevant comparison.

However, Friday’s free practice running in which the new floor was tested once again did not demonstrate its advantage, compelling the Italian outfit to stick its original configuration.

"It was an interesting morning," said Sebastian Vettel. "We learned a lot and we're sticking to the old package."

Like most of his colleagues, the German driver pointed to tyre management as the day’s main challenge, and one that will likely persist for the remainder of the Mexican GP weekend.

"Everybody's sort of on the limit with tyres and trying to get them to work in order to slide less, with the exception maybe of the Red Bulls," he added.

"The difficulty is you don't have any grip. So we're sliding a lot," he continued.

"The problem is if you don't have any grip and downforce, because the air's so thin, you don't get the tyres to work and when the tyres don't work it's really tricky.

“So that's why I think sometimes you can see quite big jumps in lap time.”

As teams progressively come to grips with… the lack of grip, performance will evolve, and so will the running order according to Vettel.

“I think everybody still has something to step up tomorrow,” he said.

“The key will be the tyres. If you have 1, 2, 3 or 4km/h more in a straight line I don't think that will be detrimental.

“But I think it will be much more important to get the tyres in the right window because then around here you can easily get two, three, four, five tenths. Quite a lot of lap time."

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Michael Delaney

Recent Posts

Sebastian Montoya steps up to Formula 2 with Prema

Sebastian Montoya, the 19-year-old son of former Formula 1 star Juan Pablo Montoya, is set…

10 hours ago

Sauber finds its ‘Northern Star’ under Binotto’s leadership

When former Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto took on the role of Chief Operating Officer…

11 hours ago

Leclerc hails a season ‘without missed opportunities' in 2024

Charles Leclerc concluded the 2024 F1 season with a sense of satisfaction, the Ferrari driver…

12 hours ago

Coulthard sounds alarm over FIA president’s rift with F1 drivers

Former Formula 1 driver David Coulthard has voiced his dismay at FIA president Mohammed Ben…

14 hours ago

The rapid rise and fall of Super Aguri in F1

Super Aguri's application to join Formula 1 became a reality on this day in 2005,…

15 hours ago

Ferrari's 2024 Season: Marked improvement and a fight to the finish

Ferrari roared back into contention in 2024 to deliver their strongest season in years, thanks…

16 hours ago