The performance of Ferrari powered cars is weak this season due to insufficient PU output. Sebastian Vettel (GER) Ferrari SF1000. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 7, 2020, Belgian Grand Prix, Spa Francorchamps, Belgium, Race Day. Credit: XPB images.
 
Ferrari?s Formula 1 team and its customers have lost about 25bhp compared to 2019 according to Mercedes which has used its own data analysis tools to examine its competitors this season.
The Italian team was noticeably slower at Spa in August 2020 but the trend for both of its drivers to underperform compared to last year has been apparent for much of the season thus far.
The drop of power is significant as the cars nominally produce around 1000bhp under race conditions, so the loss is around 2.5 percent. What is not immediately apparent is why Ferrari?s customer teams are performing better than the factory cars. Using its partnership with Hewland Packard Enterprise, Mercedes uses software to collect data from the 300 or so sensors that are carried on a contemporary Formula 1 car and can generate an incredibly detailed insight into their performance. They also use technology developed in this partnership to analyse the other cars.
HPE has worked with Mercedes to develop programs and systems to help them analyse the competition using the FIA stream. Ian Henderson, the Chief Technologist for Hewlett Packard Enterprise explains; ‘Mercedes use these systems and data to analyse the competition and answer quest...