Scuderia Ferrari returns to victory and achieves an astonishing one-two finish, doing so at the 5.278-kilometre Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne, which has historically been favorable but this time provided significant confirmations and impressions to the Maranello team, rightfully triumphant over the Australian weekend, which hosted the third round of the 2024 Formula 1 championship.
From the first two free practice sessions, it was clear that the SF-24 was in a very good form, while Red Bull seemed to struggle more than usual on a track that is highly limiting to the front end and with Pirelli’s softer compounds tending to suffer from graining which was very difficult to manage, putting the RB20 single-seater in significantly more difficulty as compared to the first two races of the season, in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. But even so, there was quite a distance from expecting a Ferrari one-two finish in Melbourne.
Of course, Max Verstappen’s early retirement is an important factor to consider, but the impression is that even if the Dutchman had remained in the race, he would not have had an easy time as in the recent past, with a Ferrari SF-24 car that would have been at least on par, if not likely a little bit superior in terms of race pace.
Carlos Sainz drove a monumental race: the Spaniard proved to be fast with any compound, showed perfect tire and race management and knew how to build his victory from Saturday, thanks to a high-level performance in qualifying. Charles Leclerc had to settle for second place, compromising his chances already in qualifying, but immediately stated that his Maranello teammate had done a better job which shows that the feeling between the two Ferrari drivers remains really positive and collaborative, despite the fact that Carlos Sainz will leave the team at the end of the 2024 Formula 1 championship.
Returning to the Australian Grand Prix, where did the performance of the SF-24 come from a technical point of view? The start of the 2024 F1 campaign was taking a somewhat dissonant turn compared to the track results. Red Bull was and remains the strongest car in the field, the benchmark to beat, but the Austrian side’s one-two finishes in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia also hid the reality of the great work done in Maranello during the winter with the SF24, a car designed with much better prospects as compared to last season’s F1 car.
Over the winter, Fred Vasseur repeatedly said that the new car was different from the previous one by over 90% of the components, but it was hard to imagine such a radical change in terms of philosophy. If the SF23 had the problem of a chronically weak front end, forcing engineers to limit the load on the rear, the SF24 features exactly the opposite characteristic, with a particularly solid front end even compared to Red Bull. At the end of the qualifying session in Melbourne, Sergio Perez pointed out that the race would be tough with Ferrari, as Red Bull was aware that the SF-24 has a very strong front end which is very useful at the Albert Park circuit. The Mexican driver therefore confirmed the impressions we had from the data.
The new suspension system combined with aerodynamics that shift the center of pressure significantly forward have turned the previous car’s weakness into what is now an absolute strength, bringing a lot of key benefits, like stability in braking and high energy flows, which allow the car to be much less sensitive to external factors, such as wind or track surface that is not levelled. In Melbourne, the fruits of the work on refining the rear end setup were seen, which had shown some less stable moments in the first two races, while in Australia it was consistently able to precisely follow the front end, making driving enjoyable and fruitful for the drivers, who could then properly extract the potential of the car. In short, strong front end, well-prepared setups, a car that responds to adjustments as expected, high level of aerodynamic load, everything the opposite of what was seen 12 months ago.
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The progress of Ferrari is therefore tangible and finds confirmation on the track, but clearly starts from afar. The arrival of Frederic Vasseur has marked a change in approach where pragmatism has become the main focus in all aspects. The design of the car concept followed the indications provided by Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz and the execution of the weekends, although certainly improvable, continues to be a point in favor of the Italian side. We just have to look at how strategies are now timely, precise and very well thought out, including the Australian race, with the Ferrari pitwall swiftly making the decision to anticipate Charles Leclerc’s pit stop in order to cover Oscar Piastri and attack Lando Norris, a plan that worked, although, obviously, this also meant that the Monegasque was out of phase in terms of tire life and therefore had some more management difficulties. In general, there have been two opportunities to win a race in almost 2 years, and both were seized by the Maranello team, definitively confirming Ferrari’s pragmatism, an aspect that can only do good to the working environment. But how far can this team go?
If we think about what the medium-term aspirations could be for Ferrari, it’s easy to guess, given Lewis Hamilton’s arrival next year, but in the very short term, meaning during the current season, it’s more difficult to identify precise objectives, since one race unfortunately does not erase the level of Max Verstappen and his Red Bull RB20 car. However, it’s true that a struggling Sergio Perez now seems beatable, thus leaving a window open to fight for the constructor’s title. What we continue to notice overall is that the disproportion in performance of Red Bull, which was evident in the past, is considerably more limited this year, with direct evidence, for example, regarding aerodynamic load. Even in Milton Keynes, choices must be made today, and those made for the Melbourne race did not seem ideal, with a lower level of aerodynamic load that seemed poorly adapted to the softer compounds especially compared to Ferrari.
Behind Ferrari in Melbourne, there were the two McLarens, confirming a car with a lot of vertical load and well driven by its drivers. The small gap at the finish between Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc should not completely deceive, as the Englishman certainly had the better strategy, which he then exploited towards the end of the race. On the other hand, Mercedes performed very poorly, in a complicated crisis moment, totaling 0 points despite Max Verstappen’s retirement. The W15 seems for now a mix between the SF23 and the W14, with enormous difficulties in finding working setup compromises and in serious crisis in terms of the correlation of data between the track and simulations.
The next race, which is scheduled to take place in Japan, will be the definitive test for everyone before the big train of updates starts. The Suzuka circuit, thanks to its track characteristics and layout, will put drivers and cars to a tough test and will allow for almost definitive conclusions on the projects of the various teams. Curiosity at this point is high to understand where each team stands, where it needs to work, and how much each team can improve.
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