F1, Ferrari: ERS strategy decisive for SF-24 traction at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve | Canadian GP data analysis. The Ferrari SF-24 shows excellent traction and rear stability when exiting the numerous chicanes.

Ferrari wants to win again and why not right away at the 4.361-kilometre Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in Montreal, as the recent victory achieved by Charles Leclerc on the streets of Monaco in Monte Carlo has significantly boosted the Maranello team’s morale. The Prancing Horse is no longer afraid to take risks and instead adopts an aggressive approach in every session. We clearly saw this yesterday, when despite adverse weather conditions, the two SF-24 cars showed no lack of courage. Setting aside the formalities, let’s analyze some elements that may provide the first conclusions ahead of the final free practice session for the Canadian Grand Prix.

Let’s consider the telemetry of Charles Leclerc and Fernando Alonso in their fastest laps in the second free practice session in Montreal. Despite the challenging weather making the very track difficult to evaluate, we can derive interesting information from the telemetry data. Let’s also make some preliminary observations before the analysis: Charles Leclerc achieved his fastest lap on medium tires without using the drag reduction system, setting a lap time of 1.16.556, the fourth fastest time on the grid, +0.746 seconds behind Fernando Alonso. In wet conditions, the soft compound used by Nando is certainly more efficient due to better grip on a damp and ungrooved track.

Even with the use of a harder tire, Charles Leclerc demonstrates excellent traction and rear stability when exiting the numerous chicanes on the track and the hairpin at turn 10. This can be noted primarily from the throttle data: the Monegasque is always able to go full-gas earlier when exiting the corner, gaining significantly in the first meters of the straights. This advantage is then lost when Fernando Alonso activates DRS and Charles Leclerc does not, losing -15 kilometers per hour on the straight in the second sector and -27 kilometers per hour on the last straight.

As predicted, the SF-24 performs excellently on the curbs, as evidenced by how Charles Leclerc tackles the final chicane: his braking input is delayed by a few meters and is overall shorter compared to Fernando’s (and all other drivers, analyzing all telemetry data). Nevertheless, he can accelerate at the same moment as the Spaniard. What matters in the final chicane is cutting the curbs well to get the wheels on the ground as quickly as possible, finding the necessary grip to enter the main straight.

The 0.7 seconds gap is mainly found on the straights and in the first sector, where Leclerc does not optimally tackle turns 1 and 2, losing +0.2 seconds, mainly due to the compound used, which does not provide good grip on the dampest part of the track. He is forced to lift his foot much earlier than the braking point and sacrifice the corner entry, to then find a good burst of speed exiting turn 2. Throughout the rest of the lap, the Ferrari driver consistently has higher minimum cornering speeds compared to the Aston Martin driver and arrives at the exit of the hairpin with a gap of +0.140 seconds.

As soon as the Spaniard opens the DRS, the delta obviously increases to +0.746. Another confirmation of Ferrari’s agility and excellent mechanical grip can be seen from the telemetry data that show the throttle and brake usage percentages in the fastest laps of each driver. The higher the percentage of throttle usage and the lower the percentage of brake usage, the more grip the car generates in the numerous chicanes and direction changes on this stop-and-go circuit.

Some other considerations: we saw a good performance by Charles Leclerc, but watch out for Red Bull, McLaren, and Mercedes. The W15 might benefit from this type of track, which lacks technical high-downforce corners, potentially hiding its flaws. The numerous restarts with accelerations could favor it, noting from past telemetry and micro-sectors how often its power unit (especially at low temperatures) pushes strongly in the initial stretches. Furthermore, Lewis Hamilton’s lap could have been a potential pole position if not for encountering Carlos Sainz’s traffic in the final chicane, nullifying the two purple sectors he had set in the first and second sectors.

Unfortunately, there is little to say about McLaren and Red Bull, as the two drivers from the papaya-colored team ran on medium tires at relatively high times without ever pushing, while Max Verstappen had to stay in the pits for more than half the session due to a mechanical problem with the ERS on his car (in fact, from the telemetry of previous laps, it was noticeable that the car was generating less power than expected).

Considering the information included in our onboard analysis of FP2, it confirms what was said about the energy recovery strategy, where the Ferrari engineers decided to adopt the tactic used successfully in Monte Carlo again. This tactic allows spreading the peak power recovered from the two motor generators, MGU-H and MGU-K, during acceleration phases, with the clear objective of providing the Ferrari SF-24 with a traction boost.

Source: FUnoanalisitecnica