What happened to Scuderia Ferrari in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix? The Maranello team struggled in the first sector of the Imola race track, showing less performance compared to rivals Red Bull and McLaren in both the qualifying session and the race on Sunday afternoon. Initially, it seemed that the problem stemmed from the preparation lap and the the warm-up strategy, but both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz emphasized that the difficulties at Imola might have arisen from an inadequate hybrid strategy in the section of the track where maximum power is needed.
After the qualifying session on Saturday, Charles Leclerc focused on the tires, pointing out that Ferrari does not understand what they were missing in turns 2 and 3 or more generally in the first sector. Tire preparation is important, but there was something strange, as explained by the Monegasque driver, who confirmed the Italian side tried many different things, but the same issue always comes up.
Before the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix weekend, it was mentioned that the Imola track was not ideal for showcasing the new aerodynamic update package. However, after 63 laps, doubts about the setup, the inability to attack the curbs as aggressively as Max Verstappen and the two McLaren drivers, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, with a less compliant suspension than the competition, raised the question of whether the SF-24 car was using enough battery in the first sector.
After the race, Charles Leclerc observed that Red Bull and McLaren seemed to employ a peculiar engine strategy that caused Ferrari to lose time to them on the straights. Despite this, Ferrari’s performance in the corners was comparable, if not superior, to their rivals. He emphasized the need to analyze this aspect further and expressed confidence that addressing this issue would make Ferrari more competitive in races. The Monegasque driver also highlighted the importance of improving their qualifying performance, noting that the problems encountered in qualifying had become quite clear to the team.
The distribution of electric energy can be adjusted track by track based on the circuit’s layout and characteristics. The concern is that the hybrid system wasn’t optimized for better performance in the first fast section of the track, costing them compared to Honda and Mercedes. The combination of setup and hybrid issues may have created a gap at Imola that was more significant than expected.
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Ferrari must maintain their momentum, as even in a “negative” weekend, they placed Charles Leclerc on the third step of the podium, securing second place in the drivers’ championship ahead of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez. The new look of the SF-24 did not make the leap of performance needed to challenge Red Bull and McLaren, but when the deficit is just over a tenth per lap, it is hard to think something is fundamentally wrong. Compared to the gap at the start of the 2024 Formula 1 championship, the difference has significantly reduced and we now have a close battle between McLaren, Red Bull and the Maranello team for the podium.
Scuderia Ferrari needs to keep pushing to close the (small) gap to the two cars currently ahead. The Imola weekend in Italy does not give a definitive verdict but opens a path of hope for Ferrari fans. Perhaps more will be seen in Monaco next weekend.
