F1, SF-24: Ferrari has understood the Pirelli tires, but extra work is needed on optimal temperature window

Finally! This is how today’s first article dedicated to Scuderia Ferrari regarding its Formula 1 performance begins. And we refer to tyre management, the “dark monster” that the Prancing Horse, let’s say it quietly, seems to have defeated once and for all. Yes, because from this point of view, the Japanese Grand Prix, particularly the 5.807-kilometre Suzuka International Racing Course, was very telling. An track surface full of bumps, rough, that likes to eat tires. Yet, the SF-24 car was unaffected. We should just look at the data related to the first stint of car number 16. A stint that allowed Charles Leclerc to gain several key positions, up to the threshold of the podium. He started the Japanese Grand Prix eighth, let’s remember.

The department dedicated to the dynamics of the Ferrari vehicle has really done a great job. In terms of suspension, the pull-rod system at the rear remained unchanged in terms of kinematics, although the miniaturization carried out seems to have worked. To this must be added the important work done on aerodynamics. A management of the vortical flows that worked. It provides the correct load and contributes to taking care of the tires when the Ferrari single-seater carries so much fuel on board.

The level of understanding of the tires is really good, in short. An aspect that is taken care of from the simulations carried out upstream of the race weekend. In Japan, the throng of tire experts from the Prancing Horse conducted a survey on the reference plane, studying it thoroughly. We’re talking about measurements of micro and macro “roughness”. Crucial indications for defining the contribution of chemical grip and tire hysteresis, which is essentially the energy loss that occurs as a tire rolls through its footprint. Through this operation, Ferrari identified the Medium compound as a high-performance compound that, despite being softer than the Hard, could offer the same productivity relative to consumption.

So it was. Charles Leclerc suggested, requested, and imposed his strategy: to extend the first stint as much as possible because the tire wear was low and the weight of the car full of fuel still allowed a good lap time, enough to postpone the first part of the race to gain a clear benefit in terms of the so-called race time. All good, well done Charles Leclerc. There’s a but: we refer to the qualifying session, where the vision on the efficient use of the tires unfortunately did not make an appearance. A lot of effort to “warm up” the compounds that, outside the perfect window of operation, did not provide the necessary grip to take advantage of the maximum performance of the Ferrari SF-24. A pity.

F1: Ferrari refines the tyre model. Charles Leclerc studies the hysteretic cycle

Fred Vasseur is not one to talk much without actually saying anything. On the contrary, he always carries a very high percentage of frankness in his pockets. Yet, he occasionally hides or at least avoids with “cunning wisdom” certain topics. However, on the topic of tires and qualifying performance, he kept no secrets, blaming the insufficient work done by the Maranello team. A competitive context that in fact limited, and not a little, the result achievable in the Japanese Grand Prix last Sunday. Red Bull is very strong. True. But even the throng of people paid by Milton Keynes make mistakes. They are “mere humans”, like us. To make life a bit more difficult for them, they must be pressured, though. This means that their competitors must be perfect.

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Let’s put it this way: starting close to the RB20 cars in the Japanese Grand Prix could have changed things for Scuderia Ferrari. Filling the rearview mirrors of the blue racing cars was the goal. The chances of beating Max Verstappen were slim. We agree. But maybe the percentage of success against Sergio Perez was significantly higher. If the world constructors’ target is realistic, then one must always push. A Saturday like the one in Japan brings nothing good, since the next day almost all the energy is spent on having to recover a lot of ground. Ferrari knows this very well. The Maranello team has learned the hard way in Suzuka and for this reason wants to avoid a “deficient qualifying context” from repeating itself.

Just like the French manager in charge of the Ferrari Racing Division, Charles Leclerc too is a sincere type. When asked at the end of the Japanese Grand Prix if he should be happy about finishing fourth, he immediately replied that he might as well stay home. His iconic reasoning explains his vision on racing. And who cares if he started eighth: finishing at the threshold of the podium, moreover behind a teammate who already knows he will leave the team at the end of the season, is not okay. It doesn’t satisfy Charles and rightly so. His final team radio at the Suzuka circuit on the lap back to the pits confirms this. An unusual silence because Charles Leclerc is not one to settle, and truth be told, knowing him a little in his communicative reactions while racing for the Maranello team, after years of listening to him, we can say he’s also fed up with not winning.

Let’s be clear, the frustration of not being able to reach the much-coveted aspirations goes beyond the work done by the Maranello team. In this regard, Charles Leclerc is satisfied and sees the light at the end of the tunnel, as they say. Nevertheless, for a racer of his level, only excellence counts, the kind that, for example, is lacking in the qualifying sessions. By his own admission, some problems “inhabit” his recent qualifying performance. A scenario that is exceedingly tedious, especially considering the Monegasque’s well-known skill in optimizing the single lap time. This is precisely why the frustration mounts. The crucial “pushing as hard as possible” for a lap, squeezing the car, we know, is part of the distinctive traits of his amazing talent, which the Monegasque has proven times and times again during his time with the Italian side.

There is work to do, however. In this case, Ferrari knows it, Charles Leclerc knows it, and Carlos Sainz knows it too. Considering that the Spaniard, in the Japanese Grand Prix, also struggled quite a bit with the mere activation of the tires. All this “rant” to say that, the Ferrari Racing Department, will exert the utmost effort in the days that separate the SF-24 from the next round of the 2024 Formula 1 championship, the Chinese Grand Prix, which is scheduled to take place at the 5.451-kilometre Shanghai International Circuit on Sunday, April 21. A track where the Italian team wants to once again embrace the status of “work perfection” within the weekend. A plan nourished by Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc with extreme strength and spirit.

The Maranello engineers will define some tests to simulate solutions on how to improve the warm-up strategy. During the outlap, the compounds must produce a precise hysteretic process to “activate” the compound. In other words, we’re talking about a deformation process that can provide the right temperature throughout the tire during the flying lap. The difficult part is “hitting” the right amount of energy to input on the vehicle’s axles, to keep the temperature level constant throughout the lap. Only in this way can the competitiveness of the Pirelli P Zero tires be fully exploited by the SF-24 single-seater.

In particular, we know that Charles Leclerc will work very hard, undertaking extra sessions in the Maranello simulator to improve the activation of the compounds. The target is simple: to enhance his understanding of the tire’s hysteresis cycle and, by extension, ensure the optimal operating window for the tires. At the same time, the Ferrari technicians will make use of the powerful computers at their disposal to refine the tire model, a mathematical model on the Pirelli tires crucial for providing the Ferrari drivers with the right tools and optimizing the performance of the compounds in the crucial moments of the qualifying sessions.