To speak of disappointment is probably unrealistic, but until Saturday morning, Scuderia Ferrari was seen as the main contender to Red Bull in qualifying. During Friday’s practice sessions, the SF-23 provided positive feedback to both drivers, raising hopes for qualifying, despite Charles Leclerc losing the second free practice session due to an electrical issue.
Yet, when it came to the decisive moment, only fourth and fifth places were achieved, making it difficult to distinguish between a glass half full or half empty. Ferrari has never hidden the fact that the Silverstone circuit could be challenging due to its many fast corners, not so much in terms of a single lap where new tires often forgive some flaws, but rather in the race, where managing tire wear over long distances becomes crucial.
Before arriving in England, the goal was to stay ahead of Mercedes and Aston Martin, and at least on Saturday, that target seems to have been achieved. However, few would have bet that the first car behind Max Verstappen’s Red Bull would not be a red one, but a papaya-colored one, as McLaren took the front row. This is why Ferrari’s smile is subdued, almost restrained, as Frederic Vasseur himself implied, openly expressing his expectation for more from his team, acknowledging the missed opportunity to put all the necessary pieces together to maximize the result.
“Today it is difficult to have a clear picture of the field’s hierarchy, and in the end, I don’t care because what matters is where we are on the leaderboard [fourth and fifth]. Today there are mixed feelings because we are ahead of our direct competitors, but on the other hand, we could have done better, we didn’t put it all together, and it was a challenging session. That’s how it went, not a bad result, but let’s see tomorrow,” said the Team Principal of Ferrari.
Despite being over four-tenths behind Max Verstappen, who continues to represent a world apart in this Formula 1 season, the Italian team indeed had the potential to secure the front row with one of their drivers, thus snatching second place from Lando Norris. However, as Fred Vasseur mentioned, neither of the Ferrari drivers managed to put together a clean lap without any particular mistakes.
Both Ferrari drivers showed great speed in the section leading to turn three, which can be taken at full throttle, while significant differences emerged in the slower change of direction. Charles Leclerc chose to prioritize the first part of the sequence, slightly compromising the change of direction leading to turn four. Carlos Sainz took a similar approach but couldn’t match Charles Leclerc’s speed in the first part of the chicane, which was more in line with Lando Norris’ numbers. While Norris was able to take full advantage of his chosen setup in turn four, the same cannot be said for the Spanish Ferrari driver, who also suffered compared to Charles Leclerc.
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Show your support for Scuderia Ferrari with official merchandise collection! Click here to enter the F1 online Store and shop securely! And also get your F1 tickets for every race with VIP hospitality and unparalleled insider access. Click here for the best offers to support Charles and Carlos from the track!
A key issue is top speed, where McLaren continues to struggle as it did in the early part of the season. Drag remains an unresolved problem at the moment because the latest package of technical updates focused more on adding downforce to improve rear-end balance rather than enhancing pure straight-line efficiency. This was evident on the Wellington Straight and the Hangar Straight, where the MCL60 faced a disadvantage of 6-7 km/h.
While it didn’t showcase its best qualities on the straights, the McLaren car excelled in sections like turn 6, where Norris was able to carry a lot of speed into the corner by attacking the inside kerb, while the two Ferraris showed signs of struggling more. Compared to Friday, Carlos Sainz adopted a less aggressive approach, allowing more margin for the setup of the next zone, turn 7, where he indeed demonstrated higher cornering speeds but suffered on exit, where McLaren regained its advantage.
The issue of top speed also arises in the area leading to Copse, where Norris, even before entering the corner, shows slightly lower peaks in speed compared to the two Ferrari drivers. This gap persisted not only in turn nine but also in the following section, at least until the final part of the snake, where Ferrari was unable to keep up with the British cars. This aspect can also be observed from the telemetry, where the speed line drops significantly when compared to that of the Bristol-born driver, which shows a smoother progression. An encouraging sign for the Woking-based team.
Nevertheless, the time gained before and after Copse allowed Charles Leclerc to reach the reference point of the second sector with a slight advantage, which was then lost at Stowe, where he made a mistake on entry, forcing him to widen the trajectory. “I went a bit wide. It was still a bit damp, and probably at that moment, I lost a lap that would have put me on the front row. It’s surprising to see McLaren so fast,” explained the Ferrari driver, who was 13 km/h slower than Norris at that point. Even in the first attempt on used tires but in conditions similar to most rivals, the Monegasque driver couldn’t find good speeds in that specific section, unlike his teammate, who was more in line with the data recorded by the British McLaren driver.
Only in the second attempt of Q2 was Charles Leclerc able to come close to the numbers of his rivals, indicating that particular section was not a problem throughout the entire qualifying session. The Ferrari driver himself provided a possible explanation for the issue, stating that for the final run, he had opted for a balance that proved inadequate for the track conditions: “Then in Q3, perhaps I didn’t expect the sun to come out so much. I was a bit aggressive with the front wing and lost the rear in some corners, and this cost me dearly. It’s a shame because I believe the front row was possible.”
The last section, particularly the chicane, also played a role, where the two MCL60 cars demonstrated excellent qualities, especially in terms of traction during the exit phase, even compared to pole-sitter Max Verstappen. However, it was the mistake at Stowe that had the greatest impact, as it essentially nullified the advantage gained after passing the second timing beam when the difference in top speed between the two cars had increased the gap.
Charles Leclerc’s stated goal for the race is second place. The focus will not only be on the McLarens but also on the two Mercedes, which showed good race pace on Friday.
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