In the second round of the 2024 Formula 1 championship, the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the Ferrari SF-24 car once again demonstrated improvement compared to the previous season. Charles Leclerc was able to set the fastest lap in the final lap of the Jeddah race, which in fact shows that in terms of tire management, the Maranello team has taken a significant step forward. The Monegasque driver managed to outperform Max Verstappen’s time set just seconds before. A well-balanced and predictable car allows the Ferrari driver to quickly understand the capabilities of the car, showcasing a healthy basis for the 2024 Formula 1 project.
On Saturday, the red car exhibited these characteristics, enabling Oliver Bearman to make a splendid debut in the most important motorsport series and the young British driver excelled in driving throughout the race. The major challenge for the eighteen-year-old was physical, as he was not accustomed to races lasting more than an hour and dealing with such G-forces.
The top two positions at the finish line remain unchanged from a week ago, with Max Verstappen winning ahead of Sergio Perez. The reigning world champion, in the final laps, alternated between pushing hard and moments when he saved the battery to set the fastest lap. The Dutch driver’s performance was unfortunately once again impeccable, demonstrating absolute pace supremacy in the first half of the second stint.
Saudi Arabia GP 2023/Corner Analysis 1st stint: Ollie Bearman exploits the extra grip of the Soft. Red Bull better amid balance in the medium speed
In the analysis of the first stint, we can observe that in low-speed corners, Oliver Bearman made the most of the softer compound. This allowed him to gain confidence in the early laps and achieve the best minimum speed. Among the strongest there was also Charles Leclerc, who, in the first six laps, showcased good mechanical grip of his SF-24 car based on the information provided by the telemetry data.
In intermediate and high-speed corners, Max Verstappen with medium tires reached the highest speeds along with the McLaren cars. The two Mercedes cars, aerodynamically lighter, and Oliver Bearman faced more challenges. The British driver in the red car averaged 6 kilometers per hour slower than his Maranello teammate in turn 9. Understandably, Oliver had to build confidence with his car with a full fuel load, despite having a tire compound advantage.
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Saudi Arabia GP 2023/Corner Analysis 2nd stint: Ferrari SF-24 exploits mechanical grip on slow corners. Mercedes pays for the light setup in turns
In the second stint, it is noticeable that drivers mainly used two tire compounds: Hard and Soft. This difference is due to the fact that Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris did not make a pit stop during the Safety Car period, delaying their pit stops. By analyzing the telemetry data of this second stint, we observe that the driver of the MCL38, with the most load in the field in terms of rear wing configuration, utilized the additional downforce and the softer tire to be the best in all types of corners.
Good performance also for the SF-24, with Ollie Bearman achieving approximately the same speed as his teammate in both slow and fast corners. Not only that, with the hard tire, the Ferrari Driver Academy member showed greater confidence compared to that maintained with the soft tire. Charles Leclerc, on the other hand, complained of some difficulty in getting the set of white-striped Pirelli tires up to temperature, revealing a slight sliding in the first part of the second stint at the Jeddah circuit.
Among the best were of course also the two formidable Red Bull RB20 cars, with the two representatives of the Austrian team recording similar averages to those of Charles Leclerc. Mercedes, on the contrary, in the second stint also suffered in terms of speed due to the low aerodynamic configuration chosen to limit the W15’s drag, which once again proves to be the main weakness of the team led by Toto Wolff. This measure, however, significantly affects the lap time performance, resulting in the German cars being considerably slower than their competitors.
DRS Analysis Jeddah: RB20 has the highest top speed. Ferrari SF-24 find a good compromise between lift and drag
Now, let’s focus on understanding the efficiency of various cars in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, by studying the speed delta guaranteed by using the DRS in turn 1 and then at turn 27. We aim to analyze the average speed at the beginning of the section where the movable wing is used and at the end of the straight; both with the wing open and closed, by looking at the deltas and the differences with the corresponding DRS closed and open.
Approaching turn 1, Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen, as was also observed during the qualifying session on Friday, have an excellent DRS that allows them to record the highest top speeds. Additionally, for most laps, the two did not even use the DRS, showcasing an average speed delta of 85 kilometers per hour between the start and end of the DRS zone with the wing closed.
Scuderia Ferrari also demonstrates having found an excellent compromise between lift and drag. Oliver Bearman, in particular, clearly shows a speed delta with the wing closed equal to that of Red Bull. Moreover, the efficiency of the SF-24’s movable wing system allows the eighteen-year-old from Chelmsford, UK, to display a better relative delta between top speed with the wing closed and open: a remarkable 23 kilometers per hour.
Source: Alessandro Arcari and Leonardo Pasqual for FUnoanalisitecnica
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