After two races wherein Ferrari did virtually completely, in Austin and Mexico Metropolis, within the Brazilian Grand Prix issues sadly didn’t go as deliberate for the Maranello workforce. Formulation 1 is a really severe enterprise, and the assorted components typically result in errors. The Prancing Horse selected a well-known setup path that often works successfully. If we rewind, we are going to recall how, throughout the 2023 Formulation 1 championship, the Maranello workforce opted to optimize prime speeds on the 4.309-kilometre Autodromo Jose Carlos Tempo in Brazil. The concept was to carry out as robust as potential in high-speed sections, focusing the weekend round top-speed. Nevertheless, this resolution was not rewarded within the race because of a scarcity of downforce.
Within the present Formulation 1 season, the target was roughly the identical: to optimize most speeds. Because of this, the engineers and technicians of the Italian facet chosen the rear wing from the setup which was additionally used on the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, a typically versatile specification. With extra downforce than final season, Ferrari thought it could not endure the problems confronted by the SF-23 automobile. However sadly one thing went unsuitable, particularly on the mechanical entrance. The suspension configurations didn’t present the required stability. Lengthy-radius turns like Flip 6 or the “Senna S” challenged the Italian automobiles considerably in entry and mid-corner dealing with.
The chosen setup path was not the proper one for the SF-24 single-seater. Deceptive sufficient, it led the Ferrari engineers down a lifeless finish. Even Charles Leclerc didn’t conceal his disappointment after the Brazilian Grand Prix, the place he calmly analyzed the assorted points encountered over the Sao Paulo weekend. The poor assessments basically made the SF-24 troublesome to deal with. Including the heavy rain that flooded the Interlagos circuit made the state of affairs much more tragic, whereas Ferrari’s technique was less than the duty, and the pit cease got here at an ill-timed second.
A extra affected person tactic might have introduced varied advantages and allowed the next end for the Monegasque driver. Nevertheless, probably the most crucial difficulty was tire administration. It isn’t the primary time Ferrari has struggled in altering situations, a situation the place tire preparation must be top-notch. Carlos Sainz’s admissions on digital camera have a cause. Driving the SF-24 on water is already difficult as a result of automobile’s intrinsic traits. If the setup can be incorrect, the motive force’s feeling with the automobile drops, and bother follows, as turned clear final weekend at Interlagos.
Within the Brazilian Grand Prix, Ferrari skilled evident difficulties with tire administration, an important facet in altering situations. Pirelli’s moist tires have development traits very totally different from the dry ones, not simply due to the tread sample, but additionally as a result of particular utilization necessities wanted to realize optimum efficiency. To make an intermediate or full moist tire work appropriately, it begins with suspension design and setup configuration, the place technical decisions and compromises are important.
These components affect the temperature and working strain of the tires. This complicated stability is essential to maximise grip and compound longevity, notably with intermediate tires that require way more exact temperature administration. All through Sunday, each in qualifying and the race, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz complained a number of instances about tire pressures, a facet intently tied to temperature management. The difficulty was clear: the tires couldn’t generate sufficient warmth to succeed in the optimum temperature window.
This incapacity prevents the tires from working at their supreme effectivity level. When Formulation 1 compounds keep beneath the goal temperature, the tire’s inner strain doesn’t attain the anticipated stage. This inadequate strain creates a contact patch that’s clearly not supreme, and consequently, the contact floor with the observe floor just isn’t maximized. The consequence? A extreme lack of grip compounded by elevated tire put on. This example brings to thoughts Charles Leclerc’s early pit cease name.
It is rather probably, primarily based on on-board footage and listening to the pre-stop workforce radio communications between the Monegasque driver and his race engineer Bryan Bozzi, that the first cause Ferrari selected to convey Charles Leclerc in early was exactly because of this drawback. Each Ferrari drivers encountered grip points in all three sectors of the Brazilian observe. These difficulties pushed them to vary tires sooner than scheduled within the pre-race briefing. The trouble to convey the tires as much as temperature was worsened by the climate situations, after all.
However even the brand new observe floor was not useful in any respect. Nearly all of the drivers voiced complaints about this, notably Max Verstappen, who received the Brazilian Grand Prix. Charles Leclerc additionally famous that the observe floor was not supreme for a moist race. For Ferrari, contemplating the particular micro-roughness of the observe floor and the SF24 automobile’s traits, many extra laps had been wanted to generate adequate warmth within the tires. Ferrari workforce principal Frederic Vasseur additionally instructed that the issue was associated to stint size.
When a Formulation 1 tire wears down, it inevitably loses some millimeters of tread, decreasing the deformable portion of the compound. This ends in a decrease capability to generate friction with the observe floor, as a lowered floor space produces, naturally, much less friction. This explains why Ferrari drivers struggled an increasing number of to keep up optimum temperature because the stint progressed. This issue additional exacerbated the dearth of grip and the SF-24’s efficiency decline.
Nov 6, 2024
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