For Ferrari it was an experimental first day of free practice in Saudi Arabia, with the Italian side ending the second practice session in Jeddah in fourth position with Charles Leclerc, while his Maranello teammate Carlos Sainz ended in seventh. The Spanish driver, moreover, is not in good shape at all; he had been confined to bed by sickness in the 24 hours prior to the first free practice session and had hardly slept last night due to a general feeling of discomfort, which certainly weakened him and his abilities to perform at his best. A from from ideal situation, especially on a challenging track like the 6.174-kilometre Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
A SF-24 with a less loaded rear wing configuration was expected, an element that could make a difference on such a fast track full of straights, especially since many of its 27 official turns are effectively straight lines as they are taken flat out. Instead, Ferrari decided to start this weekend with the Bahrain rear wing, certainly not ideal for such a layout.
It’s likely that the Maranello technicians wanted to test an aerodynamic setup in all conditions that would allow the SF-24s more agility in Jeddah’s fast corners, while at the same time compensating with the power of the engine. This experiment cannot be fully analyzed yet, considering also the lower engine mappings compared to what we will see in the race on Saturday. The garage will certainly know more, but it seems that in tomorrow’s final free practice session we will see a less loaded rear wing configuration.
Ferrari: Leclerc Tests Race Simulation with Softs
Ferrari’s best of the day was Charles Leclerc. Fourth place for the Monegasque, almost three tenths off Fernando Alonso’s absolute best performance. However, Aston Martin, as we have come to expect, worked with a more powerful engine compared to the competition, so all things considered, Charles’s time does not seem so negative, especially considering the 22 milliseconds gap from Max Verstappen’s lap, who was third at the end of the day.
“The circuit offered a good level of grip almost immediately,” said Charles. “For tomorrow we can expect a high evolution of the track. There are many of us on very close times: it will be interesting to see who will be able to extract the most from their car and find the advantage to get ahead of everyone. Now we will go into qualifying configuration, we need to optimize the package available and make a step forward compared to Bahrain. I don’t know where we stand compared to the others, but I want to bet on the pole position.”
Charles Leclerc was the only top driver to try the race configuration with soft (C5) tires. The times gradually improved, although in the first two laps the 35.2 and 34.6 turned out to be anything but competitive. The feeling is that this compound will not be the favorite for Saturday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, and probably Ferrari itself does not need to risk on a track that is very gentle with tires in terms of degradation.
Ferrari: Carlos Sainz Bears the Pain, Bearman on Alert
Ferrari had to deal with a problem over the last 24 hours: Carlos Sainz risked not participating at least in today’s free practice due to a stomach issue that had kept him in bed. Moreover, the Spaniard also struggled to sleep last night, so Oliver Bearman was put on alert, as the Ferrari Driver Academy member was already in Jeddah to race in Formula 2 and, by the way, will start from pole position. Carlos Sainz gritted his teeth and got in the car, but even looking at his face after FP2, you can see how he is quite strained and weak.
“It was a really difficult day,” commented the Spaniard. “I haven’t fully recovered from a malaise that forced me to bed for 24 hours, and I still feel quite weak. However, I managed to drive and make the most of the track time. This circuit has a lot of grip, and the very fast corners are a real test for both cars and drivers. I couldn’t push to the maximum today, but we successfully completed the program, and I hope to feel better tomorrow so I can focus fully on qualifying and the race.”
Just like for Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz’s times also improved lap after lap, but the Spaniard was on medium tires like everyone else. Evidently, Ferrari tried a more conservative approach, although the traffic issue, crucial in Jeddah especially in free practice, cannot be ruled out. It is therefore difficult to give a concrete judgment on the race pace of the two Ferrari drivers; it is necessarily to wait for Friday, when the final free practice session and the qualifying session are set to take place in Saudi Arabia.
Source: Andrea Bovone for FUnoanalisitecnica
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