A not exactly excellent F1 qualifying for Ferrari. A question of set-up and limits that the Italian single-seater currently presents. Not having appropriate knowledge of the updates makes everything much more complicated. Defining it as wrong l’upgrade at the bottom and the new shape of the bellies seems excessive. However, claiming that the red’s technicians have not yet understood how to unlock the car’s potential seems decidedly more truthful. Although the result of the second classification session is better than the first, we cannot say the same in terms of handling.
Ferrari, managed to optimize performance compared to yesterday, but certainly did not eliminate the instability present in the second part of the track. On his fast lap Sainz pay 1 km/h in terms of top speed at the end of the straight, while in the braking phase the Madrileño has to manage a broken-down car in the middle of the bend. The load shift to the front during braking excessively lightened the rear axle, leading to oversteer during engagement. Due to the unstable rear axle, Carlos has lost a tenth of respect Verstappenforced to delay acceleration.
Verstappen e Norrison the other hand, are much more composed and are able to maximise traction towards turn 3. On the continuously rising straight, the RB20 does not make the difference that one might expect given its efficiency. From the delta line it can be seen that the time distance between Max e Carlos does not change. Furthermore, the Spaniard pays only 2 km/h at the end of the straight, despite starting with 8 km/h less at the center of turn 1.
At 3 Sainz he is more composed than in the first corner and manages traction better. However, the overall balance of the curve does not prove him right. Norris it asked too much on the entry and in fact it then loses on the exit. We remember how the third corner of the Austrian track is very critical for the rear of the single-seaters due to the downward slope. The more effective traction on the exit from turn 3 allowed Sainz to reach the highest speed before the 4th. In this section of the circuit the track tends to slope down, forcing the drivers to anticipate the braking point.
Carlos he is the first to press the brake pedal, saccharifying the input to maximize the output. In this way the Spaniard achieved the best acceleration. The data confirms this, as the Iberian goes on the gas at the same time as Verstappenalthough he is forced to control the direction of his single-seater. In the central part of the track Red Bull e McLaren they perform better than the red one. After what was said yesterday, Ferrari it was called upon to manage the rear end better so as not to lose excessive fractions of a second.
The operation was only partially successful. L’handling the red one seemed better but there was some oversteer in the T2. In curva 6 Carlos he achieved a much lower top speed than his opponents. The Iberian is forced to anticipate the braking and take the bend at a lower speed so as not to go over the curb. Also there RB20 it wasn’t perfect in this point, accusing a slight instability in the middle of the curve which. The world champion pays 4 km/h but is very effective on the exit.
Even at 7 Sainz he is forced to limit the minimum speed a lot due to an unstable rear end. Carlos chooses to keep the throttle open in an attempt to stabilize the car but the choice does not pay off, as it takes about 20 meters more than Verstappen to go on the gas. Max he has a higher speed throughout the corner and gains half a tenth up Norris. To balance the loss of time in the two curves in question, the technicians Ferrari they chose to maximize the release of the hybrid part in the section leading towards 9, where the Spaniard is the best.
F1, Ferrari oversteering in the middle of the corner
In the last two medium-high speed curves the values on the field do not vary much. At 9 Sainz he is once again forced to sacrifice the entry phase to limit oversteer on exit. As we saw with LeclercIn fact, carrying too much speed into Turn 9 would have been detrimental. As a result the average speed is lower and the gap on Red Bull rises to three tenths only in the third sector, with a heavy performance delay. Even Lando e Max they are not flawless in the last corners of the track.
The Englishman has oversteer on the entry of 9 and suffers from the load shift during braking. While the Dutchman has to deal again with understeer which makes the entry phase imprecise, a problem which emerged particularly in the first attempt of the Q3. Aware of the mistake with his Red Bull RB20 Max he anticipates braking on the last corner and gets the best traction towards the final straight.
Author and graphics: Leonardo Pasqual – @PasqualLeonardo
Images: Scuderia Ferrari – F1Tv
