Charles Leclerc, strange braking problem in Australia: telemetry
By analyzing the Saturday qualifying laps at the 4.318-kilometre Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, we noticed something suspicious: during braking, car number 16 had significantly higher RPMs compared to its rivals.
The first comparison was made with Sergio Pérez’s Red Bull. In the graph below, it is evident that during gear shifts, particularly the sixth, Charles Leclerc’s RPMs (Revolutions Per Minute) were significantly higher: the difference amounted to about 1000.
This phenomenon is even more evident in the comparison with Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes in turn 3: in this case, at the moment of the fifth gear, the delta between the two cars was over 1600 RPMs.
It is no secret that every Formula 1 team sets up their gear changes differently. This means that seeing different RPMs between teams – though not as extreme as in this case – should not be surprising.
This is why the most indicative comparison is with Carlos Sainz, which shows a significant difference in several corners – 1, 3, and 4 – and with multiple gears – particularly the fifth and sixth – despite the drivers using the same car.
In short, something in Charles Leclerc’s SF-24 was not working according to plan. Does this justify Scuderia Ferrari’s third consecutive negative weekend? Absolutely not, it actually places greater responsibility on the Maranello team, which is called to find a solution to these anomalies.
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