The Ferrari SF-24 presents a dawn of a deeper red to its fans. On the other side of the world, Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc achieved a fantastic one-two in the Australian Grand Prix, which was built over the weekend, starting with a solid base on Friday. Indeed, the Maranello car already demonstrated in the first free practice session its ability to adapt well to the layout of the 5.278-kilometre Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne, without needing major setup adjustments. Carlos Sainz’s race was certainly favored by Max Verstappen’s problems, but the Spaniard’s race pace showed great solidity in terms of tire management.
Charles Leclerc, in second place, suffered slight degradation at the beginning of the second stint with hard tires, as he pushed hard to take second place from Lando Norris. The Monegasque driver experienced slight graining on the left front, with his Spanish race engineer, Xavi Marcos, advising him several times to manage the tires in medium-speed corners and beyond.
In third place, a resurgent Lando Norris in the McLaren. The Englishman lacked race pace compared to Charles Leclerc. Despite managing the tires admirably, the MCL38 seems to lack performance on the long run. Race pace needs to be improved probably through aeromechanical updates. The goal of the team led by Italian engineer Andrea Stella is to improve the balance of the car without resorting to compromise settings.
Australian GP 2024 / 1st stint corners: Ferrari SF-24 exploits grip in slow sections
Let’s analyze the average corner speeds of the drivers during the first stint of the Australian Grand Prix. Looking at the telemetry data, it can be observed that Carlos Sainz was the best at low speeds, demonstrating good car management with a full fuel load aboard his SF-24. The mechanical grip of the McLaren MCL38 was also good, while Sergio Perez seemed to struggle a bit more with his Red Bull RB20. In medium-speed corners, Charles Leclerc is able to better use the Ferrari SF-24 downforce. Lando Norris is also strong in this section of the track.
However, the Spanish driver of Scuderia Ferrari and Sergio Perez, according to the collected data, seem to be slightly more in difficulty. Analyzing the telemetry data related to the first stint, an excellent performance by Kevin Magnussen is observed. Among the top drivers, Charles Leclerc is the best with the Medium tire. The Italian car number 16 exploited the additional grip of the yellow-banded Pirelli tires combined with the agility of its car, allowing him to gain time in this part of the track compared to his rivals.
Australian GP 2024 / 2nd stint corners: Ferrari SF-24 optimizes front-end in slow sections
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In the middle section of the race, even with hard tires, the two Ferrari SF-24 cars show good behavior in the slow sections. The work done by the technicians of the Prancing Horse during the winter to improve the front end of the car seems to be bearing fruit. Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc have maximized the grip provided by the front suspension to gain in the slower sections. In medium-speed corners, excellent performances are observed from the two Aston Martins and generally from the Honda-powered cars.
Ferrari and McLaren have maintained lower benchmarks in this regard, with the target of better tire management in the fight for the podium. Despite this, the last two mentioned teams are trying to maximize performance even in medium-speed corners. The aim is to find a better aeromechanical balance; an important element in view of the next round of the 2024 Formula 1 season, the Japanese Grand Prix.
In data also shows that the two Ferrari cars were managing the tires at high speeds. By doing so, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz did not bring excessive energy to the tires to avoid increasing the temperature of the compounds and, consequently, wear.
Australian GP 2024 / 3rd stint corners: Ferrari SF-24, better speeds in medium-fast corners
In the final stint of the Australian Grand Prix, Oscar Piastri and Lance Stroll achieve better performance from their cars, in the slow zones with less fuel load. Moreover, the Australian once again demonstrates the efficiency of the pull-rod at the front. Charles Leclerc with hard tires is the best of the Ferrari duo, with a speed 3 kilometers per hour higher than the slower drivers. In the medium-fast section, furthermore, the more profitable tire management at the beginning of the stint by the Monegasque is appreciated.
At the request of his engineer, Charles Leclerc managed the tires in the early laps of the third stint and meanwhile was able to maintain the gap to Lando Norris during the final part of the Melbourne race. By managing the tires well, Charles Leclerc was able to push harder during the last laps of the race, achieving the best speeds among the top teams and even setting the fastest lap of the race. In the trailing positions, Kevin Magnussen achieved the best results, with an excellent car in the medium-high-speed corners, gaining about 7 kilometers per hour compared to Yuki Tsunoda.
Australian GP 2024 / DRS Analysis: Aston Martin suffers drag. McLaren excellent top speed without DRS
Continuing the analysis, we arrive at the final part of the available telemetry data, which refers to the use of the movable flap on the rear for reducing drag. We do this by examining the efficiency of the drag reduction system of various drivers during the race, at the end of the main straight. Fernando Alonso achieved the best speed delta with the wing open compared to his average top speed. However, this data underlines what we have already mentioned: the Aston Martin cars suffers from superior drag compared to competitors at the end of the straight.
Regarding Scuderia Ferrari, we can say that Carlos Sainz, thanks to leading the race all the time and therefore running in free air, used the drag reduction system on the straight sporadically, still achieving a good speed response without slipstream. Oscar Piastri, on the other hand, was able to reach the highest speed aboard his McLaren with the drag reduction system open. Furthermore, the Australian achieved one of the best deltas between the start and end of the straight with the DRS closed.
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