Ferrari tried to do its best in the eleventh F1 world championship event dedicated to the Sprint Race. We are referring to the 100km race where the cars on the grid compete to bring home points. An event strongly desired by Liberty Media who, wallet in hand, decided to propose this particular format to keep viewers glued to the TV screens even on Saturdays. In fact, the reasoning of the Stars and Stripes owners is flawless, as the free practice sessions are often boring, while the possibility of seeing the cars compete is always tempting even for the less attentive supporters.
Ferrari he had a moral obligation to do well. Shake up this weekend started very badly, where once again, as in Spainthe basic setup of the Modena cars has caused drivers, technicians and engineers to suffer quite a bit. There was hope of doing a little better with a lot of fuel on board, since in the only free practice session on Friday, the two SF-24with a high amount of fuel on board, although the high simulation laps were only 6, they still showed a very good pace and a truly negligible consumption of the compounds.
As mentioned, it was certainly not easy to upset the performance of the car without being able to touch the set-up. The adjustments on the front end alone to balance the load are small. For this reason the hope of changing the cards on the table was undoubtedly more entrusted to the behavior of the Ferrari with a lot of fuel and, at the same time, the skill of the drivers in exploiting every little opportunity. That’s how it was at least for Leclercauthor of a catapult start that allowed him to recover 3 positions in three corners. Pure Sainz He started well, despite the position he gained on Russell it was then lost during the race.
F1, Sprint Race Austria: Ferrari shows several technical limits in Spielberg
For the Austrian mini race all the drivers chose to use the Pirelli yellow band. Eraser Medium which undoubtedly stands out as the best compound that can satisfy the compromise required by sprint: duration but obviously also performance. In the very first laps the McLaren they showed really good pace. In the span of stint it can happen because we are talking about single-seaters F1, MCL38 e RB20which have similar performances but “light up” the tires differently. Precisely for this reason Lando Norris he attempted the attack on turn 3.
The Red Bull she was therefore unable to immediately find the usual pace to build a gap adequate safety. Verstappen he was therefore forced to defend himself by having to remove himself from the area DRS Of Norrisa factor which forced the Dutch to use a surplus of power on the forehand. We are talking about an aspect linked to the power unit which led him to suffer from clipping at the end of the straights. Once at the Red Bull brought the tires up to temperature Max he began to detach the two McLaren which in fact had a slightly slower absolute pace than the Austrian car in the hands of the talent of Hasselt.
For the Ferrari It was a one-way race. Not having a pace superior to the top of the class and starting from the back, it was difficult for the Italian cars to seek a better result. The two SF-24 they were forced to accomplish quite a lot lift and coastwithout forgetting the problem of the braking system during braking. The temperatures of the discs were too high and managing them meant limiting the performance during braking. To make the tyres work properly, the Ferrari drivers tried various changes to the levers (tool).
We are referring to the mid-corner differential and braking balance. Then there is another issue to take into account: the considerable degree of oversteer. The rear became lighter in some conditions, causing excess rotation when exiting corners just when you need a car that opens the trajectory, not closes it. The missing load on the rear could also cause problems tomorrow, when the laps will be many more. Rear tires that may show difficulty in the traction points generating wheel-spina phenomenon that causes temperatures to rise on the rear axle.
Authors and graphic designers: Alexander Arcari – @berrageiz – Niccoló Arnerich – @niccoloarnerich
Images: Scuderia Ferrari – F1Tv
