2024 Scuderia Ferrari F1 Team

[FDD]

Charles:
“Yes, I'm a bit disappointed: it's been a complicated weekend so far. All in all, qualifying went well, I found more favorable conditions despite having struggled in Q1, where I was forced to put on another set of softs, and this compromised Q3 a bit. In Q2 I think I did a better lap than Max did in Q3, but I lost pace with the first set of softs because it had been used since Q1, and this made me lose confidence when I put the new tire back on.
All in all, however, qualifying was good, but now let's focus on tomorrow's race pace. We are in a better position than in 2023, we will see tomorrow by how much: I believe that Red Bull still has some margin, but if I were to have even just one opportunity, I will attack Max. We always struggled in the race last year – concludes Leclerc – we need to make sure you put things right. I hope for a nice surprise tomorrow."

Carlos:
“I think everyone expected Max's pole position. I have to admit that after the performances in Q1 and Q2, I was convinced that I was fighting for pole position. So I don't understand why we don't find those two or three tenths necessary to make a leap forward, usually we manage to recover something in the last qualifying session and Charles also had the same problem.
In Q2 I preferred to do a more conservative lap to save a tire for the race, and despite not pushing too much I managed to do 1:29.5, while in Q3 I pushed and still did 29.5, so I have to understand why. All in all, qualifying went well, but Q3 didn't go as we thought."

[FDD]

Best sector times comparation

[scuderiabrandon]

Charles:
“Yes, I'm a bit disappointed: it's been a complicated weekend so far. All in all, qualifying went well, I found more favorable conditions despite having struggled in Q1, where I was forced to put on another set of softs, and this compromised Q3 a bit. In Q2 I think I did a better lap than Max did in Q3, but I lost pace with the first set of softs because it had been used since Q1, and this made me lose confidence when I put the new tire back on.
All in all, however, qualifying was good, but now let's focus on tomorrow's race pace. We are in a better position than in 2023, we will see tomorrow by how much: I believe that Red Bull still has some margin, but if I were to have even just one opportunity, I will attack Max. We always struggled in the race last year – concludes Leclerc – we need to make sure you put things right. I hope for a nice surprise tomorrow."

Carlos:
“I think everyone expected Max's pole position. I have to admit that after the performances in Q1 and Q2, I was convinced that I was fighting for pole position. So I don't understand why we don't find those two or three tenths necessary to make a leap forward, usually we manage to recover something in the last qualifying session and Charles also had the same problem.
In Q2 I preferred to do a more conservative lap to save a tire for the race, and despite not pushing too much I managed to do 1:29.5, while in Q3 I pushed and still did 29.5, so I have to understand why. All in all, qualifying went well, but Q3 didn't go as we thought."

The car is very much still unknown, the lack of confidence means they still aren't 100% at home in it which it to be expected as it's has been a big shift from the predecessor. I think if the stars aligned Charles could've done a 28.9 / 29.0 (in fact the latter was his combined best sectors) but as much as it pains me to say this Q3 was far from his best session.At least we know the pace is there.

[Seanspeed]

Watching the onboard comparisons, Red Bull still have a very big speed advantage on the straights. This is a huge part of their S1 advantage. RB still have some serious magic when they open the DRS flap.

[Espresso]

Watching the onboard comparisons, Red Bull still have a very big speed advantage on the straights. This is a huge part of their S1 advantage. RB still have some serious magic when they open the DRS flap.

Just check Max pole lap. He grabbed a smart tow at the start…
Without that it would have been a very very tight battle for pole

[dialtone]

Watching the onboard comparisons, Red Bull still have a very big speed advantage on the straights. This is a huge part of their S1 advantage. RB still have some serious magic when they open the DRS flap.

I don't think it's related to DRS.



This is the last Q3 lap from LEC and VER.

* The 2nd straight (800-1400m) has DRS and the 2 cars go up to the same speed at the same rate, but then VER switches to 8th gear while LEC stays in 7th, at that point the speed trace diverges.

* In the back straight (2700-3300m) the speed trace of the Ferrari seems to be due more to wind than to DRS magic, but effectively they end up at the same speed (309 v 310) and Ferrari has a wildly different approach to every corner from now on.

* RBR maintains a decent advantage in quick changes in direction in fast corners, like right after T4 (1800-2200m). LEC maybe took a bit of a risk here trying to use the throttle a LOT more, but had to brake a bit more mid corner while RBR was able to let the car slide through.

* Funnily enough, while Ferrari brakes a bit more in T5-6, they actually let the car slide through the corner a ton in every fast corner after 5-6, they let the throttle go later, brake later and for shorter and get on the throttle a little later but usually starting from higher speed, it doesn't always work out time wise (not for T11 and T13) and it sure looks RBR has improved traction quite a bit. It's almost like Ferrari and RBR inverted places with RBR having great traction and Ferrari doing better in the corners, although RBR isn't bad in cornering as Ferrari was last year.

* Judging from the point above and T1 braking, it doesn't seem to me that Ferrari has any issue braking, at least not relative to RBR.

[AR3-GP]

delete

[jambuka]

Did anyone notice Leclerc almost lost his car at beginning of Q3 last run. Would that make him lose so much time in turn 1?

[dialtone]

Did anyone notice Leclerc almost lost his car at beginning of Q3 last run. Would that make him lose so much time in turn 1?

It's not T1 that LEC performed worse at, it's the rest of the lap, he was actually a bit faster in S1 in his Q3 attempt.



Q2 lap vs Q3 lap above.

Where he gains a lot over himself is in the fast corners after the backstraight. Against Max's lap in Q3 he was very slow at applying the throttle on exit, but in his Q2 lap he was basically on par or slightly better with how Max applied throttle in those corners.



LEC Q2 lap vs VER Q3 lap.

You can see how LEC throttle and brake usage is a lot more aggressive than VER Q3 attempt. Makes sense that he said that the first lap on used confused him as he probably didn't trust the rears enough on used tires. He was having a better lap right until the back straight in Q3, then it got worse, even in the straight he's slightly slower, maybe thanks to again slightly slower throttle application.

[CaribouBread]

...

Just replying to say you have the best charts perhaps along with Albano. Thank you for these!

[Vanja #66]

Comparing 22, 23 and 24 cars tells a lot about the improvements made. 22 and 24 are almost the same on top speed, though when you take the whole track into account you see there's a small advantage for 24 car. 23 car gained a lot on top speed with the team being forced to use smaller RW than they planned.

In all corners 24 car is notably better than 22, even T1-2-3. A peculiar (probably very stiff) setup last year meant 24 car is a lot better in low speed stuff, while the difference in medium and high speed is lower - but 24 car is more consistent. Also in 23, T1 apex speed was the lowest of these 3 cars, while acceleration was the most aggressive. Very different approach this year and 3 tenths faster after the braking point. I imagine this is also better for tyres, especially in the race.

Overall, there's some areas to improve still and will come with better understanding of the new car. Can't help but feel like all these 2024 cars can get at least 1-1.5s faster by the end of 2025.

[101FlyingDutchman]

Comparing 22, 23 and 24 cars tells a lot about the improvements made. 22 and 24 are almost the same on top speed, though when you take the whole track into account you see there's a small advantage for 24 car. 23 car gained a lot on top speed with the team being forced to use smaller RW than they planned.

In all corners 24 car is notably better than 22, even T1-2-3. A peculiar (probably very stiff) setup last year meant 24 car is a lot better in low speed stuff, while the difference in medium and high speed is lower - but 24 car is more consistent. Also in 23, T1 apex speed was the lowest of these 3 cars, while acceleration was the most aggressive. Very different approach this year and 3 tenths faster after the braking point. I imagine this is also better for tyres, especially in the race.

Overall, there's some areas to improve still and will come with better understanding of the new car. Can't help but feel like all these 2024 cars can get at least 1-1.5s faster by the end of 2025.

https://i.ibb.co/GQpNh71/ferrari.jpg

Could I trouble you for a MCL comparison? Suppose it’s not really a fair one as the BAH MCL60 was a dog compared to the one introduced at Silverstone

[Space-heat]

Seems S-H-H for Ferrari. If max is going S-S/M-H might make sense to push him early.

Did anyone from the team comment on the M used in Q1. Was it for a sighter or were they checking performance in race.

[Seanspeed]

Watching the onboard comparisons, Red Bull still have a very big speed advantage on the straights. This is a huge part of their S1 advantage. RB still have some serious magic when they open the DRS flap.

Just check Max pole lap. He grabbed a smart tow at the start…
Without that it would have been a very very tight battle for pole

Ah I did miss that, only having watched the shortened version on 4(UK). Yea, that was a pretty massive bonus for Max there.

But I thought I noticed this advantage elsewhere on other laps as well. I'd have to go back, and I'm feeling a bit lazy to do so, but the Red Bull did seem to have an 'end of straight' top speed advantage, even if it doesn't show up on the shorter straights elsewhere.

[Juzh]

Yeah it's definitely not related to DRS. We can't allow RB to have any advantage anywhere. There is nothing special here.

* The 2nd straight (800-1400m) has DRS and the 2 cars go up to the same speed at the same rate, but then VER switches to 8th gear while LEC stays in 7th, at that point the speed trace diverges.

Yes I think if Leclerc had just upshifted to 8th, he would have matched Verstappen. That missed upshift cost him 5km/h at the end of the straight..

It's just derating. 8th gear would have done nothing to increase speed. Those last few kmh on the RB are nice to have, but give nearly nothing in laptime. Braking zone is only a second away so not much gain to be had.