Ferrari took a podium finish with Carlos Sainz in the eleventh round of the 2024 Formula 1 championship, while Charles Leclerc finished the Austrian Grand Prix only eleventh. When discussing strategy, we need to consider the tires available at the start. It immediately stands out that practically no driver among the top teams (except for Aston Martin) reserved a set of new soft tires for the race. Everyone based their race strategy on the medium and hard tires, thinking about a two-stop strategy. We note that Red Bull had one more set of new hard tires and one less set of mediums.
F1, Ferrari uses the medium tire well
For the first stint of the race at the 4.318-kilometre Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, most drivers chose the medium tire, as in the Sprint on Saturday. In the first corner, Charles Leclerc had a contact that damaged the front wing. This resulted in an early pit stop, where they decided to use the hard tire in order to extend the stint and try to overcut the slower cars. Charles Leclerc’s use of the hard tire was a signal to other teams. The white compound did not work well in the early phase of the race and was significantly slower than the medium.
The Monegasque driver received many instructions from the Maranello team regarding tire management. He was asked to pay attention to traction phases and micro-lockups during braking, as well as to save the tire in certain corners, such as turn 9 where he was pushing too hard. Via radio, they also established the strategy: switching to ‘Plan C,’ which likely meant doing as many laps as possible on the hard tire. Max Verstappen immediately tried to create a safety gap to avoid an attack from Lando Norris, as happened the previous day during the Sprint race.
In the first 4 laps, he built up a 2-second lead. Lando Norris tried to keep up but suffered from some understeer. Max Verstappen was warned by the pit box but responded that he too was experiencing a lack of rotation. For the pit stop, they agreed on a two-click flap increase. In Friday’s qualifying session, McLaren had a very strong front-end, which they perhaps tried to sacrifice partly to benefit the rear grip. Lando Norris then reported around lap 14 that he was having problems with almost everything.
From the telemetry data, it is evident that Ferrari, on the medium tire, had a better pace than the Mercedes, being able to gain a lot against the W15 cars. On lap 16, Max Verstappen began to complain that he was sliding too much, just as the pit stop moment was approaching. The balance of the RB20 was not perfect and it put even the Austrian car in trouble, which on this track had a very solid base setup and seemed unassailable.
The first to stop after completing the first stint was once again Charles Leclerc, who simply couldn’t get the hard tire to work. From this point on, it became a race that almost had no precise purpose. After a few laps, on lap 23, Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz pitted to counter each other. All these drivers mounted the hard tire to extend the stint as much as possible and maybe try a used soft tire for the very last part of the race.
Interesting was George Russell’s choice to opt for a second set of yellow compounds at the first pit stop. In this way, he avoided using the hard tire in the central part, which at that moment was not working. For the race, let’s remember that Mercedes had preserved a set of new mediums and two sets of hards. Also on lap 23, Lando Norris and Max Verstappen pitted together. Smart move by Red Bull, which thus neutralized any kind of attack.
During the second stint, even the front-running drivers struggled with the hard tires, but this time it was the rear tires that were the main limitation. The different compounds have profoundly different behaviors. There are thus different phases in the life of the four tires, based on their temperature and how they are stressed. Both Lando Norris and Max Verstappen complained of excessive rotation. The rear compounds were further from the ideal temperature, and the two cars slid a lot with the rear end.
On lap 46, George Russell pitted to fit the hard tire, an obligatory choice since he had not yet used this tire and the soft would not have lasted until the finish. Carlos Sainz pitted early on lap 47 to switch back to the medium. The hard tire had not been very performant, and they decided to discard it as soon as possible without exploiting its potential durability. Oscar Piastri, on the other hand, used the second and last set of new mediums he had available. The races of George Russell, Oscar Piastri, and Carlos Sainz intensified at the moment of the incident between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris.
Considering the difficulties, the gap previously accumulated by the Dutchman decreased only slightly, remaining always around 7 seconds. At that point, McLaren was considering pitting to attempt an undercut, as Max Verstappen had reported that the tires were completely finished. However, the Woking team hesitated because they would have come out behind lapped cars. They would have struggled to produce a sufficiently competitive lap to make the undercut work.
Red Bull realized that they could be under attack from McLaren, which could have executed an undercut, so they decided to preempt their move. In the end, both drivers pitted on lap 52. Lando Norris benefited, however, as Max Verstappen’s pit stop was slowed by some issues with the right rear. Both returned to the yellow tires.
Up to this point, the race situation in terms of strategy was rather straightforward. George Russell was the only one on a different tactic, but this factor was not the key to his victory in the Austrian Grand Prix. Luck was also on his side, but he was excellent at keeping Lewis Hamilton behind when they battled on track. Upon exiting the pits, there were just over 2 seconds between the two. At this stage, Max Verstappen complained of a general lack of grip with the medium tire.
Perhaps also due to a less-than-perfect out-lap, as he found Lando Norris right behind him. The McLaren driver did a better job in this respect, and his tires worked better during the stint. But ultimately, what was missing for Ferrari? Charles Leclerc’s race is difficult to analyze due to all the problems he suffered and the fact that he changed tires several times, failing to find rhythm at the back except in the very final part of the race.
Carlos Sainz, on the other hand, had a pace similar to the Mercedes throughout the race, sometimes even better. Just before the virtual safety car, he was overtaken by Oscar Piastri, who was making a comeback with McLaren. Ferrari’s pace is better compared to the single lap, where the two SF-24 cars fail to find good balance. Unfortunately they have taken a step back in fast corners, where they were doing very well in the first third of the 2024 Formula 1 season. The optimal operating window, however, is still short, and on days like last Sunday, it would have been useful to start at least a few positions further up.
To quantify this, Carlos Sainz was slower than Geroge Russell, but by less than a tenth over the entire race. However, there remains a significant gap towards Red Bull and McLaren, which are currently unbeatable and at the same level. We are talking about roughly 3 tenths, which, added up over the entire race, is really an eternity. The work done after the Sprint benefited the two MCL38 cars, which managed to find a lot of pace at the Red Bull Ring on Sunday, while on Saturday the RB20 was pulling away.
Source: FUnoanalisitecnica.
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