Scuderia Ferrari aims to perform well in the next round of the 2024 Formula 1 championship, the Miami Grand Prix, in order to avoid finding itself in an unpleasant competitive context as it happened at the Shanghai International Circuit in China. Through mistakes, one can learn. Or at least the skilled ones can. Now, considering that things have changed compared to the past in Maranello, it seems quite reasonable to expect a clear turnaround compared to the race held in China. The American track is quite different from Shanghai, and the Prancing Horse has the opportunity to silence some voices suggesting that Red Bull’s dominance has once again taken center stage.
Regarding the Milton Keynes team, there are some comments from Helmut Marko. But his statements should always be taken with a grain of salt. Usually, the Austrian advisor has a precise method of doing things. Approaching the race weekend, he is almost always cautious. He often portrays himself as concerned because Ferrari or other opponent at that moment will be closer over the weekend. Then, when the race is over, and Max Verstappen has won without much trouble, he praises “his” driver by stating that the Max Verstappen – RB20 pair is unbeatable. Even for the Miami Grand Prix, reading his words, the tedious tune is the same.
However, the truth is rather different: Red Bull is also a favorite for the Grand Prix in Florida. To beat the blue racing cars, a specific context must necessarily come into play: the Austrian team must not be at their best, and the challenger targeting victory must be. It’s a shame that the reigning world champion team doesn’t make technical mistakes. When it does, it loses, like last year at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore. Or it must be bad luck to decimate infinite resources, like in Australia where the Dutchman retired due to a brake disk problem on lap 4, which was described by Red Bull as “stupid”. Foolish maybe, but still enough to remove car number 1 from the equation in what remains a memorable one-two finish for Scuderia Ferrari at the Albert Park circuit.
The Maranello team certainly isn’t aiming for that. It’s clear that, if it were to happen, taking advantage of a second mishap would be nice. But that’s not Ferrari’s approach. On the contrary, the sports management has worked hard to address certain issues that partly at the Suzuka circuit and especially in Shanghai, severely limited the performance of the two SF-24 cars. We are talking about the tire issue, of course, on which we have spent a lot of focus studying and pointing out what happened, why, and how to solve this headache, which indeed weighs heavily on the performance for the Ferrari single-seater.
Ferrari, in Miami with a new suspension set-up to activate the tires
The two Italian cars will have a new livery in Miami. The measure is part of a series of actions that will take place over the weekend to honor Ferrari’s history in the United States. It’s hoped that this festive atmosphere won’t distract from the race itself, but on the contrary, it might somehow offer a plus in terms of motivation. An emotional boost capable of adding to the value of the Maranello team’s work in the United States this weekend. We’ll soon discover the double shade of blue that will be present on the SF-24 cars, with the hope that it’s indeed a good omen.
A reaction is therefore expected from the Italian side after a very disappointing race weekend in terms of competitiveness. Returning to the mere track, it’s worth remembering a key factor for the red team in this 2024 Formula 1 racing campaign: the energy input into the Italian car’s tires is significantly lower than in 2023. This factor is strongly noticeable in the qualifying session. We are talking about a choice made by the team as Ferrari needed to present a precise setup. A race car, in short. We are talking about an element that favors low degradation but penalizes the pace and performance on Saturday.
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Achieving optimal tire temperature during just one out-lap is quite difficult, especially when the track temperatures, as was the case in China, are quite low. However, as we saw at the Shanghai International Circuit, this problem significantly affected the race. In practice, the supposed advantage in terms of tire wear was in vain, due to the fact that the Hard compounds (with a high working range) didn’t provide the correct grip as they weren’t fully in the window, as they say. This was within the stint. Undoubtedly, the competitive context was complicated also considering the particular track surface that rests on a marsh.
These were all conditions that have further highlighted this issue with the red car, negatively emphasizing this endemic characteristic of the SF-24. The energy profile, considering the Miami International Circuit, will be different, and from the initial simulations conducted by the Maranello technicians in preparation for the Miami Grand Prix, Ferrari’s setup should benefit. At this point, let’s see what, on a practical level, can be done to mitigate this “flaw” of the Maranello single-seater in order to optimize performance. The tire model is nothing but the mathematical model of the tire studied in the simulation field.
A parameter capable of providing precise indications on the correct amount of energy that needs to be input into the compound to maximize its performance. The factors to consider in order to obtain the right feedback are to be found in the aeromechanical interaction obtained with specific setups. Within this scenario, the Ferrari team responsible for vehicle dynamics has developed such a deformation of the tire that, in Florida, it can provide the proper grip to fully benefit from the tires. The difficulty, speaking of suspension, concerns the modification of roll centers and rotation occurring instantly.
This is a criteria that can “shake up” the correct balance of the car if the adjustment is excessive, especially when the suspension system has been designed and conceived to offer, in general, less temperature to the Pirelli compounds. Ferrari has nevertheless decided to act on various suspension adjustments. The main goal aims to find the correct “static position of the tire in space” to have positive “consequences” over the course of the lap. A targeted balance, however, that must take into account the qualifying-race ratio, finding the right compromise that can benefit both scenarios in question.
The main problem at the moment concerns the ability to achieve what has been said across the entire range of tire compounds, considering that the current headache for the SF-24 lies in centering this setting in the transition from Soft to Hard. As we can imagine, the difficulty of such adjustments is very high, having to evaluate and identify certain key parameters like camber and to a minimal extent also the convergence that can, as mentioned, significantly affect the stability of the aero platform during the vehicle’s movement.
Not to mention that even the anti-roll bars play a role in bringing the tires up to temperature. The technicians of the red team have therefore chosen a general configuration that is sought to be maximized with the warm-up strategy, to provide each type of compound with the appropriate energy in order to access optimal grip. To validate the simulation studies, strong attention will be paid to this issue during the first laps that Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz will do in the first free practice session for the Miami Grand Prix, as both drivers will test the 2/3 calculated hypotheses and then will decide which is the best setup for the rest of the weekend at the the Miami International Autodrome in Florida.
It’s about adopting the right sequence referring to the handling, based on the track layout, to tackle the corners at the necessary speed to achieve the required goal. So, to summarize, for each type of Pirelli tire, it’s necessary to understand and know how to bring it to the correct temperature and above all how to maintain it, both concerning the dry lap and the long runs with a high quantity of fuel on board. A wrong hysteresis process in China with the Hard compound severely limited the potential of the Ferrari SF-24 cars of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. A process of understanding the tire during the weekend that in Miami, apparently, will be significantly better.
Source: FUnoanalisitecnica
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