Before the race weekend and even before the race itself, Ferrari was considered the favorite for victory in Las Vegas, as the long straights and slow corners suited the SF-24 well. However, there were uncertainties linked to the ambient temperatures. “There are two factors at play for us: the favorable track layout and the less favorable ambient temperatures, given how much we’ve struggled to heat the tires this year. We’ll see how they balance out and who comes out on top this weekend,” Carlos Sainz aptly said entering the third-to-last race weekend.
Ferrari: Charles Leclerc’s attack on George Russell a result of differing tire expectations
In hindsight, the low temperatures limited the SF-24’s performance; however, the favorable layout allowed the Italian team to achieve third and fourth place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix. According to the Maranello team, this result could have been better with improved execution during the race, as both drivers might have been able to contend for second and third place with Lewis Hamilton.
It is equally clear that, in Las Vegas, the SF-24 was the second-best car on track. Nonetheless, graining unexpectedly hampered the Italian car, to the point where Charles Leclerc compared the problems experienced in the final kilometers on the yellow tires to those caused by a puncture. “We struggled too much with graining, more than we expected. That’s why we couldn’t push as we wanted,” Carlos Sainz stated after the race. In retrospect, Charles Leclerc’s attack on George Russell proved to be a mistake. However, Ferrari did not anticipate such a sudden tire degradation, which also occurred on Carlos Sainz’s car, despite him managing the tires better in the early laps.
Ferrari: post-race chaos among drivers primarily caused by communication in need of significant revision
This also caught Ferrari’s strategists off guard, leading to confusion—an issue that still arises during critical moments. This is an area where Frederic Vasseur must work extensively to provide Leclerc and Hamilton next year not only with a top car but also with a team fully equipped to compete for the championship. “Las Vegas simply demonstrates that in this sport, you have to execute everything perfectly. We’ve done an excellent job in terms of strategy and race management throughout most of the year, but today that wasn’t the case,” Carlos Sainz rightly pointed out.
Poor race execution and, above all, a lack of clarity were at the root of the post-race chaos between the two Maranello drivers. It stemmed from unclear communication: Riccardo Adami, Carlos Sainz’s race engineer, instructed his driver not to put pressure on Charles Leclerc, while Bryan Bozzi, Charles Leclerc’s engineer, initially told the Monegasque that Carlos Sainz had been instructed not to overtake him, only to later correct this to “he was told not to put you under pressure.” It is evident that Riccardo Adami’s instruction to Carlos Sainz was not explicitly to avoid overtaking, just as it is clear that the Spanish driver used his cunning to take advantage of the situation. Utilizing his already-warmed tires and better traction out of Turn 4, the future Williams driver quickly overtook his Maranello teammate on the straight without applying pressure, securing an important podium but understandably provoking Charles Leclerc’s anger after the race, as explained by F1 expert Piergiuseppe Donadoni for autoracer
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