Ferrari Sees Singapore as Golden Opportunity to Salvage Season

Ferrari sees the Singapore Grand Prix as a chance to straighten out its season. The Italian team, which hasn't won since the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, has watched Mercedes, McLaren, and Red Bull share victories in the seven races since. Despite the setback, the Scuderia remains firmly in second place in the constructors' championship, with a 58-point lead over McLaren, which has failed to score in the last two events.

Marina Bay's urban circuit favors the SF-26. Without long straights, the Ferrari engine's lack of power will be less noticeable than on other layouts, while its higher aerodynamic load should help it stand out through the city-state's slow, technical corners. The heat and humidity, usual factors in Singapore, will test both the cars and the drivers' endurance, but the team trusts the car will be up to the task.

Throughout the season, people have speculated that Ferrari sacrificed some power for the best chassis and the most efficient aerodynamics. Singapore will be the perfect test to evaluate that theory; the bodywork will need to be very open for the power units to breathe, and it will be interesting to see whether the SF-26 is more closed than other cars in its heat-evacuation outlets. If Ferrari optimizes cooling without sacrificing aerodynamic performance, it will have a significant advantage over its rivals.

However, the panorama is not exempt from difficulties. In recent races, Ferrari's chassis and aerodynamic superiority seem to have diminished because of the significant evolution packages introduced by its rivals and the difficulty of finding the tires' optimal operating window. This problem is especially noticeable in qualifying, which has led the team to opt for rigid setups instead of trying to lighten the car to reduce aerodynamic drag.

The atmosphere in Maranello is also tense. Fred Vasseur, the team boss, has renewed the management's confidence but has not hesitated to attack the Italian press in his statements: "I don't read the press; I try to isolate myself from all this. The number one problem is the 1,500 people who work with me and who, when something negative comes out about me, about the team, and everything else, in the morning suffer the consequences," he declared to Canal Plus F1.

Vasseur believes this pressure harms the team's results and has even asked for "friendly media"; however, tension is not only generated by external criticism: Lewis Hamilton has fanned the flames by suggesting he knows what changes are necessary, without naming names.

Despite everything, Singapore presents a golden opportunity for Ferrari; a third victory before the last update in Austin would soothe the team and restore calm to a locker room that needs results. In Marina Bay, Ferrari can show its project is still alive and that the wait for a title hasn't been in vain; it would be enough not to waste the umpteenth opportunity.

The circuit favors the car, and Leclerc and Hamilton have enough quality to take advantage of it, so the ball is in Ferrari's court.