'Ferrari are using a similar strategy to Mercedes last year'

German journalist Michael Schmidt thinks Ferrari is using the same strategy as Mercedes in 2021. The Italians are still driving at full power despite reliability problems. For now, the team will not have a solution either.

"Ferrari has a very good car. What surprises me is that everybody copies the Red Bull, but nobody copies the Ferrari. That shows that no team knows why the Ferrari is so fast", Schmidt says in his programme Formel Schmidt from Auto, Motor und Sport.

Mercedes has a theory that Ferrari's speed has to do with the flexibility of the floor. "Mercedes suspect that, but they also suspect that Red Bull is doing something with the floor. We will find out in Spa. In my opinion, in terms of performance level, not much will change."

Ferrari continues to run at full power

Ferrari reliability has been a major issue this season. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz have already crashed out several times this season. At the Austrian Grand Prix, Sainz was forced to park his car at the side of the track. "At the moment it doesn't look like Ferrari has a solution to the engine problems. Even if they do, it will take time to implement. The current engines from the pool still have the same problem."

According to Schmidt, it will take until Spa before the next engines become part of the pool. That would also mean another penalty for Leclerc, he says. Despite the reliability issues, it does not appear that Ferrari are reducing power. "Absolutely not. They do have to drive at full power. They have to take all the risks. I think they are using a similar strategy to Mercedes last year." Indeed, in 2021 Lewis Hamilton's team opened up the engine completely. As a result, the drivers had to incur many grid penalties.