In the Italian Grand Prix at the 5.793-kilometre Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Scuderia Ferrari achieved their third victory of the 2024 Formula 1 season, the second for Charles Leclerc, who thus secures a memorable Monaco-Monza double, which has great personal significance for the Monegasque driver. A victory obtained thanks to the correct intuition that the unknown Hard tire compound could cover 38 laps, but also thanks to the decision to bring forward some parts that were planned for one of the next two Asian races. In the post-Italian Grand Prix interview, Charles Leclerc expressed his gratitude to the Maranello production team, acknowledging their hard work in getting the new parts on track as quickly as possible. Ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the 2024 Formula 1 Constructors’ Championship now sees the Italian team 39 points behind Red Bull and 31 behind McLaren, which is still considered by everyone as the real favorite for this championship.
We had almost defined Monza as an all-in for Ferrari, given the choice made by team principal Frederic Vasseur himself to combine the two aerodynamic packages initially planned for Monza and one of the two subsequent Asian races. The much-anticipated new floor was thus brought to the track, along with a very low-drag specific package, with a completely redesigned rear wing for the low downforce of the Temple of Speed and perhaps for Las Vegas, which few teams have approved to save budget for other areas. A few hours before the start, English senior performance engineer Jock Clear noted that Monza holds significant importance for Ferrari, making it understandable that they might spend more time than others trying to make gains for this Grand Prix.
The difficulties in designing the Monza package are related to the fact that aerodynamic downforce and aerodynamic drag do not cancel each other out, not even on the ultra-fast Lombard circuit. Jock Clear explained that while the circuit is not suited to aerodynamic drag, the corners require significant downforce and he emphasized that focusing solely on minimizing drag would result in slower cornering speeds. So every team has to decide what compromise to use, that is, how much the increase in downforce positively outweighs the negative factors caused by an increase in drag. The engineer who heads up the Driver Academy for Ferrari expressed confidence that, based on this year’s observations, they had effectively addressed the considerations for Monza. He acknowledged that achieving exactly what they aim for is difficult due to ambitious goals, but he believed Monza was likely one of the venues where they came closest to their objectives. The British engineer anticipated that the car would perform well and that the drivers would enjoy racing at Monza, words that in hindsight proved to be more than accurate.
Of the top teams, McLaren had also worked on a specific package for the Monza track. However, after testing the new asphalt and considering the balance between downforce and drag, they opted for the ‘higher’ downforce package to better protect the front tires. At the end of the race, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella explained that front tires are utilized differently depending on the car. The former Ferrari track engineer noted that their car is typically strong with rear graining, but they face more challenges with front graining and tend to adopt a more aggressive approach. Meanwhile, Ferrari excels when graining is an important factor, as evidenced by the win secured at the Albert Park circuit in the Australian Grand Prix by Carlos Sainz.
However, even though Ferrari tried to keep expectations low, the floor was also a key element in Charles Leclerc’s success last weekend in the Italian Grand Prix, as it allowed the use of a rear wing designed for the downforce levels that the floor brought to the Circuit de Catalunya in Spain was supposed to generate, but that the Hungary floor specification did not guarantee. The new specification introduced at Monza allowed a return to the downforce levels seen in Spain but, at least on the Monza circuit, without bouncing, as neither Charles Leclerc nor Carlos Sainz mentioned the word “bouncing” in any of the briefings held.
In the customary post-race team radio message, Charles Leclerc expressed that the 2024 Formula 1 season had been nerve-wracking with its ups and downs but highlighted how rewarding the highs were. The Monegasque driver conveyed his deep gratitude to everyone and the entire Maranello team for enabling the use of the updates. However, it is always important to emphasize that Monaco and Monza are two ‘unique’, special tracks, the two extremes of the entire championship, and that they do not have similar characteristics to any other race on the calendar. Now Ferrari has to do a total reset and they must not go to Baku with the same expectations because it will be a completely different track, and McLaren remains the leading force. But in Maranello, there is indeed a desire to turn the page quickly, remaining very cautious and waiting for more testing tracks for the updates, such as Austin and Qatar, where wing levels more in line with most circuits will be used, with fast and long corners that should highlight the bouncing if it is still present, as explained by F1 expert Piergiuseppe Donadoni for formu1a.uno.
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