Ferrari unveiled the sound of its 2021 car Friday for some good Friday content. Well, if you think that Formula One cars even sound good anymore.
I’ve never been a great judge of motor racing sounds, in that, while they don’t all sound the same to me, they do in the sense that they are all just varying levels of loud. Which is also to say that I love them all, because usually if you’re hearing race car sounds you are at a race or you have one on the TV.
Which is to say Ferrari’s for this year sounds good — it sounds like a race car. And really I’m using this as an excuse to wonder aloud — does Ferrari have a chance this season? Carlos Sainz will be joining Charles Leclerc this year, taking the Sebastian Vettel’s seat, so Ferrari should have one better driver.
There is this year on what teams can spend during the calendar year to improve the performance of the car, which will—in theory—help level things out a bit, and might give Ferrari a boost. On the other hand, Ferrari finished sixth in the constructor’s standings last year, just above the Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda, which was a pretty disappointing finish given Ferrari’s storied past.
And we can probably guess that Mercedes will again be in the lead this year, though the order behind them is anyone’s guess. So: Does Ferrari have a chance next year or what? If not how high do you think they will finish and why? My best guess is ... fourth.