Ferrari: is it actually there? Immediately we’ll discover out. Yesterday, in Monaco’s FP2, F1 hit a vital second to guage single-lap potential. On a observe the place precision is excessive, the place each centimeter could make a distinction. The telemetry evaluation of Charles Leclerc’s greatest lap, in comparison with Oscar Piastri’s, permits us to spotlight variations that emerged in driving model, precision, and automotive response.
We had anticipated it in our common weekend preview: right here in Monte Carlo, the SF-25 had a better alternative than common to intention for the highest positions. Up to now, Ferrari—particularly automotive quantity 16—has proven wonderful responsiveness, nice precision, and, above all, rising confidence from the Monegasque driver, who instantly began pushing to the restrict.
From Sainte-Dedicate to the tunnel: surgical precision and balanceAt the primary nook, Sainte-Dedicate, Charles Leclerc may be very assertive on entry. He assaults the within curb extra aggressively, reaching the throttle a number of meters sooner than Piastri. All with out inflicting any wheelspin or instability throughout traction. On his greatest lap, he misses the exit wall by simply 4 cm, a transparent signal of how shut he’s already pushing to the restrict.
On this first part, as much as automotive quantity 16’s arrival at On line casino, Charles Leclerc positive aspects 0.079s on the Australian. Uphill, within the Massenet–On line casino part, the automotive’s steadiness turns into evident: Charles Leclerc holds a barely wider line, with the rear following the entrance properly, serving to the automotive rotate. The telemetry reveals Charles opting to modulate the brake enter.
He chooses to keep up a rounder trajectory, in contrast to Oscar Piastri. The Australian decelerates way more sharply and linearly, managing to hold and preserve extra mid-corner velocity in his McLaren. This was considerably the strategy the championship chief selected in FP2 at Monte Carlo.
From Mirabeau to Portier: McLaren benefit within the slowThe subsequent part, from braking at Mirabeau (flip 5) to Portier (flip 8), clearly favors the Woking automotive. We’re within the slowest space of the observe, and in these low-speed corners Oscar Piastri reveals better management and velocity, in addition to extra precision and rotation. He takes flip 5 with 9 km/h extra and the Hairpin (flip 6) with 5 km/h extra, whereas Charles Leclerc appears to wrestle barely extra in getting the automotive to rotate.
We’re speaking in regards to the common power rotation shortfall of the SF-25 which, though lowered, nonetheless reveals up in sure elements. From the exit of flip 8 onward, nevertheless, Charles will get on the throttle barely earlier and positive aspects rather a lot in traction: that is fairly clear from the velocity graph, the place from apex to tunnel exit the purple line stays above the orange McLaren line.
From the Chicane to the end: the place pole is builtArriving on the Chicane, a distinction in interpretation is seen within the left-right: the Monegasque tends to brake a number of meters earlier, dropping a while on entry, however then on exit from flip 11 he will get again to full throttle earlier, managing to claw a few of it again. Yesterday, this part tilted in favor of the Australian, with Oscar Piastri gaining about 0.115s on this a part of the lap.
From flip 12 onward we enter the Swimming Pool part, and right here we see the motive force’s actual confidence: Charles enters flip 12 with 5 km/h extra and, above all, will get again on throttle a lot sooner than the McLaren. The identical sample repeats at turns 15–16, with the Ferrari driver even making use of a slight throttle by the nook, most likely to maintain the rear as secure as potential, the place instability is frequent.
Within the ultimate a part of the lap, the SF-25 continues to be fairly exact, though barely much less reactive in rotation than Oscar Piastri’s automotive. It goes by Rascasse 7 km/h slower, however makes up for it with out dropping time because of a really clear and constant traction section. Due to this fact, the SF-25 proves to be undoubtedly aggressive in some areas, and to intention for pole, absolute perfection is required: Monaco leaves no room for errors.
Might 24, 2025
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