Cooling engine crucial for Ferrari: 'Hot conditions make task demanding'

The predicted hot weather for the French Grand Prix means Ferrari are wary of the tyres and engine. The team is still suffering from reliability problems, so it will be crucial to keep the car well cooled this weekend.

"The high temperatures predicted for the French Grand Prix this weekend mean that ensuring the power unit and the tyres perform at their best is a real challenge and it’s up to those working on the aerodynamics to take the appropriate countermeasures", Diego Tondi says in the preview from Ferrari.

The head of aerodynamics mentions the cooling of the car as a crucial task. Not only are the tyres at risk of overheating due to the hot weather, but also the engine will need to be properly cooled. Especially after Carlos Sainz' retirement in Austria the team cannot afford another DNF.

With Charles Leclerc's confidence boosted by his victory at the Red Bull Ring, the Monegasque can't have another engine failure. Indeed, Leclerc is slowly closing in on Max Verstappen in the drivers' championship.

"We will use a medium-high level of bodywork cooling, using the apertures of the cooling gills on the upper part of the bodywork. The track characteristics mean that we would have been doing this anyway to contribute as much as possible to tyre management, but the hot conditions will make this task even more demanding", ends the Ferrari man.