The historic Ferrari team worked intensively during FP1 in Shanghai, focusing mainly on two key areas: tyre behaviour and hybrid energy deployment. Among these aspects, the first remains the area where something still appears to be missing. Beyond the graining phenomenon, which affected several teams on track, there is also a noticeable thermal asynchrony that is causing some difficulties. The setup itself seems reasonably good overall, but even in this area there appears to be further work required. Let us take a closer look at what happened during the first and only free practice session of the Chinese Grand Prix weekend.
Ferrari studies tyres, Macarena wing and energy deployment
The two Ferrari cars wasted no time and headed out onto the track immediately. After completing the initial out lap to prepare the tyres, Lewis Hamilton attempted to push but lost control of the car: the British driver spun, fortunately without any contact with the barriers. The incident did, however, result in flat spots on the tyres, and this happened on a circuit that was still quite green and lacking grip at that stage.
It is worth noting that both SF-26 cars were fitted with the so-called “Macarena” rear wing. As a result, Ferrari did not run a split programme between the two drivers for data collection in this area.
The first early impressions suggested that the Italian car had a decent level of balance, although it appeared somewhat nervous. Charles Leclerc seemed more comfortable initially, and there was a clear reason for this: onboard footage revealed that the tyres on the right-hand side of car number 44 were heavily flat-spotted after Hamilton’s earlier spin.
Another important detail concerned the work being carried out on the front axle in order to bring the tyres up to temperature, as the compounds tended to cool down significantly. Over the team radio there were numerous suggestions being communicated to help manage the car.
The discussion did not revolve solely around differential settings and braking adjustments, but also involved the various new controls used to properly test the release and management of hybrid energy deployment. While Hamilton requested and was allowed to return to the pits due to the condition of his tyres, Leclerc’s race engineer Bryan Bozzi asked the Monegasque driver for feedback on the setup.
Leclerc responded that he was, in general terms, moderately satisfied with the car. He then completed another lap and requested to use the right-hand toggle switch even in Turn 1 in order to improve the rotation of the car through that corner.
There was also an interesting detail regarding the Macarena rear wing. In order to avoid stability issues, the Ferrari driver suggested disabling the straight-line mode earlier than usual in Turns 6 and 11. Observing the handling of the Ferrari, this appeared to be a sensible adjustment. After completing another lap, Leclerc was then called back into the pits. During the in-lap he was informed that, based on the data analysis, the use of hybrid energy was fairly close to the expected targets, although slightly more lift-off was required in Turn 14.
Chinese GP FP1: graining causes problems for several teams
During the pit stop there was also a small adjustment made to the front aerodynamic load: “+4 clicks.” Leclerc returned to the track still running the Soft tyres in order to evaluate whether the change would make a difference, particularly in terms of stability during corner entry.
Meanwhile Lewis Hamilton also returned to the track on the Soft compound tyres. His first timed lap remained quite far from the top of the timesheets, but the British driver was still in the process of rebuilding confidence with the car, especially considering that his first run had been compromised by the flat-spotted tyres.
Charles Leclerc then carried out what could be described as a short mini-run with a higher fuel load, an important phase for data collection regarding two specific elements: tyre behaviour and hybrid energy usage. One visible detail during this run was a noticeable black strip appearing on the left-front tyre, with small fragments of rubber beginning to detach.
This was the classic graining effect that appeared to be troubling several drivers during the session. According to the available observations, the issue was particularly evident in the first sector and through the high-speed sections of the circuit.
Lewis Hamilton gradually brought his lap times closer to a competitive level. Over the radio, Carlo Santi explained that the “main lost” compared to his teammate was still located in Turn 14. The British driver also completed a pass through the pit lane, and while the car was stationary in the pit box before performing a start practice, the team made another adjustment to the front load: “plus 2.”
Santi also reminded Lewis Hamilton to warm up the front axle as much as possible during the in-lap. At this stage of the session, Carlo Santi was particularly active on the radio, providing a long series of parameters to help the British driver manage the tyres more effectively, as well as additional suggestions regarding the braking phase.
For Hamilton there was also a slight thermal imbalance on the front axle, as the right-hand tyre compound tended to increase in temperature more rapidly than the left. Apart from this, the usual settings related to energy deployment were constantly being modified as the team searched for the most effective configuration of the system.
Ferrari needs a step forward before qualifying
Charles Leclerc returned to the track once again, this time also running the red-banded Pirelli tyres. He attempted to push harder, but the car still did not feel perfect. Over the course of the lap it was particularly in the first sector where the Ferrari lost the most time compared to the Mercedes. Turns 2 and 3 were especially costly, with the Ferrari losing more than two tenths of a second in that section alone.
For this reason, Bryan Bozzi suggested a different brake balance configuration over the radio: “plus 1.”
The Monegasque driver was not entirely satisfied with the performance delivered by these tyres. In his opinion the setup could still be improved, and he therefore asked for a further adjustment to the front load. Like his teammate, he remained out on track to better understand how to optimise tyre usage.
If the management of hybrid energy appeared relatively good—although still with room for improvement—the tyre behaviour clearly required a step forward. Bryan Bozzi also suggested adopting a wider racing line through Turn 1 in an attempt to improve the situation.
As the session reached its conclusion, Ferrari had still not found the ideal balance. While the management of hybrid energy seemed broadly under control, the main areas requiring improvement remained tyre behaviour and the overall handling of the car. Managing the tyres on this surface proved far from simple, and the Ferrari package did not appear particularly comfortable in this respect.
It now remains to be seen whether a suspension adjustment could help change the situation, especially considering that the next session of the weekend will already be a qualifying session.
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