China performance analysis: Ferrari SF-24 tires drop out of operating window completely on Hards

In the first part of the Chinese Grand Prix, the two Ferrari SF-24 cars were limited by their grid position and the dynamics that took place at the start. Max Verstappen pulled away, creating an immediate safety gap from the group behind. After a few laps, the pit crew notified him that the temperatures of the compound had stabilized. On the other hand, the Ferrari cars had a terrible start, allowing George Russell and also Nico Hulkenberg to pass both Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc. In the following laps, they implemented some tire management on the medium compound. The Maranello pit wall suggested a less aggressive approach to turn 1, where several seconds are spent in support.

These instructions were given in order to prevent graining on the front-end. There was also talk of Plan B on the radio, which could have been a single stop, trying to go longer on the mediums in the first sting and later switching to the Pirelli Hard tires for the second part of the race. Plan D was also mentioned, but only Ferrari knows what that referred to. The first of the leading group to pit was Fernando Alonso, who switched to Hards on lap 10. The Spanish driver did not feel comfortable on the mediums and his Aston Martin generally lacked pace at the 5.451-kilometre Shanghai International Circuit, but his impressive driving abilities and race management once again allowed him to get the most out of the car’s limited potential. Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez both pitted on lap 13 to switch to Hards.

They also did some tire management in the following laps, with Max Verstappen’s Red Bull engineer Gianpiero Lambiase telling the Dutchman to control and contain some of the ‘slip’ in turn 7. In other words, he needed to better control the degree of the car’s sliding to manage tire degradation. Carlos Sainz switched to Hards on lap 17, which turned out not the be the ideal as the Spaniard could not take advantage of events on track a few laps later. Indeed, on lap 20, Valtteri Bottas stopped at the side of the track and just the next lap a Virtual Safety Car was deployed. Charles Leclerc took great advantage of this Virtual Safety Car moment, pitting and losing much less race time.

Charles Leclerc benefited from the Virtual Safety Car

Lando Norris, at the time the Virtual Safety Car was confirmed, had stayed out. Fortunately for the McLaren team, this period remained active for a long time as the marshals struggled to remove the stricken car of Valtteri Bottas, allowing the Englishman to pit on the next lap. Shortly after, a full Safety Car regime was deployed, and many took advantage of it. Notably, the two Red Bull cars came in to fit fresh Hard tires and aim directly for the finish. Fernando Alonso came in again for the Soft compound, while Mercedes took the opportunity to switch George Russell to the white-banded Pirelli tires.

From the chart related to the gaps, we can observe some dynamics on the Shanghai track. Firstly, it’s evident how Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris were on similar times towards the end of their stint. However, there was a significant gap between the two, mainly due to the Monegasque driver starting from a disadvantaged position on the grid and not having a perfect first lap, which made matters even worse. The Ferrari drivers therefore made the race more complicated for themselves. By pitting earlier, the two Red Bull cars had excellent pace, allowing them to recover a lot of race time on Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc.

The Milton Keynes cars showed overall very good performance on the medium compound (C3), despite the fact that Sergio Perez couldn’t find the correct balance with this tire. That’s why they made many adjustments as compared to the Sprint event which took place on Saturday morning. The driver from Guadalajara once again struggled against Max Verstappen. His RB20 was sliding at the rear, and in general, didn’t have the same grip as his teammate.

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Lando Norris managed the yellow tire well, containing the degradation at the rear that was seen during the Sprint Race. Throughout the Chinese Grand Prix weekend, McLaren had an oversteering car, and generally suffered from rear overheating. However, between Saturday and Sunday, they worked a lot on this front, and the track conditions favored the MCL38. Scuderia Ferrari, on the medium compound, was just a tenth behind Lando Norris’s McLaren, without considering all the overtakes the Maranello team’s drivers had to make in the first part of the stint. Starting further forward could have resulted in less race time lost, finding more pace with the medium tires, which means the SF-24 car was in fact slightly faster than the McLaren MCL38 on the medium tires.

Ferrari SF-24 struggles to warm up the Hard compound

Right from the restart under the Safety Car, there were several complications for the Prancing Horse cars. Following the safety car, they couldn’t warm up the tires sufficiently. Finding pace with the Hard tire was therefore really difficult for both drivers. From the Maranello pit wall, they advised Charles Leclerc to avoid the so-called ‘micro locks’, which are small lock-ups that, however, trouble the tire over the long run. Also, at turn 7, Charles Leclerc’s race engineer, Xavier Marcos Padros asked for more tire management from the Monegasque driver, with several instructions on racing lines as well, even one that led to a miscommunication between the Ferrari driver an his race engineer in the final stages of the Chinese Grand Prix.

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-24