Ferrari in the mini race of F1 of the Austrian Saturday has recovered some positions. It did so with Charles Leclercvery skilled at exploiting the start and slipping in three cars including the Red Bull Of Czech Perez. Also Sainz he had surpassed Russellbut during the race he was forced to give up the position again to the Englishman Mercedes. A real shame because, performance analysis in hand, theand two SF-24s could potentially beat the Silver Arrows. However, temperature problems encountered on the brakes and tires made the mission impossible.
Assetto, this word that in the last few weeks has literally driven the Ferrari. Yes because since the red technicians have mounted the update on the SF-24 it’s as if they have a correlation problem between the simulator and the track. This is because the red car is no longer capable of hitting the asphalt with the set-up studied in the factory and show good performance. There is a problem in this sense and in fact it must be solved to find the lost working point of the single-seater. We speak of involution but in this case it would seem more a matter of poor knowledge of the car with the updates on board.
F1, Austrian GP Qualifying Q1: Ferrari passes the cut but shows oversteer
The two reds take to the track for their first run with the tyres Pirelli with a red band, the compounds Soft new so to speak. The first attempt for the Ferrari drivers is good, even if a little traffic makes its presence felt. While the Monegasque of Ferrari decides not to touch the front wing to change the load level on the front end, Sainz prefers to request a small modification. One more point of downforce at the front to further balance the car. Inside the garage of the reds the “two Carlo” take a quick look at the telemetry to understand where to improve l’handling.
Spielberg always shows a high asphalt temperature above 40 degrees. This means that the hysteresis cycle of the tire must be taken care of perfectly, to allow the tires to be activated and, at the same time, to maintain the correct operating temperature throughout the session, especially in the last corners supporting the third sector. Nell’outlap Adami suggests a Carlos to take less apex in turn 4, while Drafts asks to move the brake balance of a point on the front to Leclerc for curve 3.
Without a shadow of a doubt the handling of the SF-24 seems to have improved. To make a quick comparison between the two Ferrari drivers, we can first of all say that Carlos has a less aggressive driving style and therefore less aggressive. For this reason he is able to be more precise than his teammate, beating him by about two and a half tenths between the first and second sectors. In the third sector, however, he is Charles that recovers something. It seems at the moment that the adjustment on the trim of the Ferrari can work, as the understeer remains but does not seem as invasive as in previous sessions. However, we wait until it gets serious.
F1, Austrian GP Q2 Qualifying: Ferrari forced to take an extra lap with Leclerc
For the Q2 it’s starting to get serious. The engine revolutions 066/12 will rise. Unfortunately in this case you have to take into account the aerodynamic efficiency, the enemy of the red. SF-24 which has a higher level of resistance to forward movement than Red Bull a McLaren. Aspect that limits the speed performance of the cars Maranello when the engine mappings are more aggressive. Everything is ready to return to the asphalt of Spielberg for this second part of the qualification that will give us the first answers on the change of set-up of the Ferrari.
To be even more precise in our analysis on-boardwe can say that in the first section of the track the single-seaters F1 all red cars still struggle to manage mid-corner stability when they press the accelerator pedal. The excess rotation remains. An effect that also occurred at turn 7, but in this case, let’s talk about Charlesthe issue could be attributable to a less than optimal trajectory. Better in turn 4 where both Italian cars showed a slightly better performance.
Here we go, back to racing. Both Ferrari they abandon the garage. Both have a set of used red-rimmed tires. He takes great care l’outlap to have maximum performance. Track position that looks good. Therefore, in the last curves of the track, the mode push and we start pushing again. Carlos isn’t too happy with his performance as in T2, especially in turn 7, made a mistake that made him lose precious time. On the contrary, this time his partner puts together a clean round.
After a short break we’re back on track, this time being able to enjoy it dell’extra grip from the Pirelli new red bands. In this case we will see how the grip will increase SF-24 and thanks to this factor how much will the increase be performance. The Ferrari drivers manage to take down enough time from the previous chronometric results even if the gap from Verstappen remains a good half a second tenth. There is a lot of talk about the load installed on the front axle, to understand how to perfectly center the balance of the Ferrari and optimize performance.
A short break and again nose on the asphalt. Only Leclerc However, unlike his teammate he has set a clock that makes him feel completely at ease. Charles switches to race mode and launches into his last attempt at the Q2. As was easy to predict, the Monegasque took his foot off the accelerator in T1. There was no need to finish the lap once the rest of the competitors behind him were not improving their times. This cut has also passed and we therefore proceed towards the Q3.
F1, Austrian GP Qualifying Q3: Ferrari suffers from oversteer even in the third sector
The last part of the qualification of the Austrian Grand Prix edition 2024 has arrived and the time to really get serious is clear. Every little detail will make a difference, keeping in mind that the goal of Ferrari what remains is to improve the result obtained in yesterday’s classification session. The talent of the Ferrari drivers must necessarily come to the surface in an attempt to maximize performance. Here we are, the time has come. Leclerc abandon the pitlane Austrian with the train of Soft used for the Q2 where in fact the session was aborted.
On the contrary, the Spanish of Ferrari takes to the track with a train of Soft brand new. Sainz fails to achieve a clean round. Already in T1 the oversteer limits it but especially between the second and third sectors you will be forced to make a significant correction due to clear instability at high speeds. An aspect that actually ruins his chronometric report. While Leclercthis time definitely more on the ball than his companion, closes a good attempt that earns him provisional fourth place behind George Russell.
The two redheads wait in the garage until the last useful second to exploit the track’s rubber as much as possible. Charles complains about the traffic in pit-lane because he doesn’t want to find himself in yesterday’s situation and lose the chance to complete the lap. The tires are still on Soft new for both. The round of Sainz once again it is not perfect but, this time, despite the flaws, it still manages to achieve an adequate performance, just over a tenth of the McLaren.
Those who really can’t do it are Leclerc. Starting well in the first sector, the Monegasque arrives very long in turn 5. The trajectory is far from ideal and obviously the time lost weighs heavily. To try to recover some Charles exaggerates in T2, makes another mistake by putting the right axle wheels off the track and then, in the third sector, making a further serious mistake right at the best moment. In summing up this session it must be said that some improvements were seen. Nonetheless, handling instability due to oversteer remains an atavistic problem.
Author: Alexander Arcari – @berrageiz
Images: Scuderia Ferrari – F1Tv
