Turn on the tires. At Ferrari we would like to put aside the ifs and buts, especially when it comes to qualifying for the 2024 Formula 1 World Championship. It is an observation that in the time-attack the SF-24 struggles to quickly bring the Pirelli compounds to temperatures . As a consequence, the first sectors of the tracks that were faced in the first seven rounds of the championship were adverse to the Red. Not a great consolation if you consider that next weekend we will race in Monte Carlo, where to overtake you would need special effects and particular events capable of changing the score. Consequentially, in Maranello they are working to, perhaps, replicate what happened in 2022 with an all Prancing Horse front row, only to then run into a disastrous strategy of which the good Charles Leclerc was, despite himself, the victim.
“The motivations are very high”: Leclerc and the French curse
After Ferrari’s home event in Imola, which ended with Leclerc’s podium, it will be the turn of the weekend in which Charles will act as Cicero, hoping to break the evil spell in the Principality: never in the top-3 in his experience in the Circus. «As a team we want to help him close the open account he has with the Monte Carlo track – declares team principal Frederic Vasseur -. Carlos (Sainz, ed.), for his part, he really loves the Principality track where he achieved his first podium at the wheel of a Ferrari, so the motivation for both of them is very high. As is known, Monaco is a circuit on which overtaking with the current generation of single-seaters is very difficult. Qualifying will be of fundamental importance: we will have to try to take that step that we have still lacked this season to start in front of everyone. In the simulator as well as in the meetings with the engineers we prepared in detail and we hope to be protagonists”.
“We hope to take the lead”: Red Bull and McLaren in the sights
The Maranello team wants to raise the bar and optimize the aerodynamic updates introduced in Imola and adapt them to the peculiar characteristics of the Monegasque street circuit. A track full of blind spots, where it is necessary to graze the barriers and push yourself to the limit. Translated: take big risks. Tackling the Sainte Devote curve, the Casino climb, the very slow hairpin at Turn 6 and the two Ss of Piscine and Rascasse, skimming the guardrails, will be a great challenge for the drivers. Ferrari’s last victory dates back to 2017 with the German Sebastian Vettel and one would want to break the fast. The Cavallino team will be able to count on a new high-load rear wing specification, which should help the single-seater through the winding streets of the Principalityand on a revised DRS device with the aim of increasing its effectiveness, in accordance with the changes made on the SF-24 on the Santerno track, where the car increased its level of downforce and developed excellent cornering speeds . «The Imola updates worked and others will arrive shortly, with which we hope to take the lead. For the moment, Red Bull is still the reference and McLaren has also grown a lot.” Leclerc said. In fact, a substantial upgrade is expected to be brought forward for Silverstone (5-7 July), but as things currently stand, we will want to work on the balance of the single-seater to make it more effective in qualifying and allow Charles and Carlos Sainz to take advantage of the consistency in the race pace.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
