Ferrari: pole position with Leclerc was possible in the eighth F1 round. The SF-25 had good balance in slow corners. Ferrari confirmed a good balance during FP3 and then in qualifying. Overall, the Prancing Horse found a setup that gave the drivers a lot of confidence, especially Charles Leclerc. Both drivers, however, struggled more in the first sector, where they had been very strong the previous day.
Ferrari, no issues in slow corners
McLaren made fine tuning in turn 1, greatly improving the exit, where they had been losing time going up towards the Casino. Today Ferrari lost time in this traction phase, but less than Red Bull. In the middle sector, unlike expectations based on yesterday’s performance, the Italian team managed to keep the gap under control. In fact, in Q3 Charles even improved on Norris’s time.
A clear confirmation that Ferrari does not have a problem with slow corners, but, as often highlighted, it all depends on what kind of compromise must be made with the setup, considering the narrow tuning window. If anything, based on what has been seen so far, there is a general lack of downforce, even in slow corners. The last sector decided everything, as often happens here in Monaco.
Looking at the gaps, what Charles Leclerc lost in T1 he made up for by a thousandth in T2. In the third section McLaren made the difference, even if visually it seemed to slide a bit on exit. They were not perfect, but had a lot of pace in qualifying. Until the penultimate corner, the SF-25 had a slight advantage and was virtually on pole. Charles was ahead of Norris for almost the entire lap, from turn 4 to 17.
But from the Piscine chicane to the finish line he lost two and a half tenths, throwing away the chance to start first. Much depended on how the teams managed the tires. The Soft compound, in fact, was very delicate thermally. With the new tire, Ferrari struggled more to exploit it because they couldn’t properly activate both axles. In general, it was tricky for almost everyone, and in the first sector all struggled.
McLaren manages the Soft compound best
Overall, on both cars we saw an oversteering attitude during the exit phase. This was observed in turn 1, climbing towards the Casino, but also in other areas, such as exiting the Piscine chicane. When taking the curb, the car becomes more unsettled compared to the Ferrari, and the drivers suffered from too much rotation that they had to control.
This “ruined” traction. Despite this, McLaren is really solid on entry. Telemetry data shows this clearly, as does the onboard footage. Overall, the MCL39 is more front-end focused and manages the compounds perfectly. Today this factor was particularly important, especially in the strength they showed on the first flying lap with new tires.
Of course, much credit goes to the drivers, especially Norris. Summing the best sector times, however, Oscar Piastri could have beaten Charles Leclerc if he had put it all together. Meanwhile, Hamilton was clearly out of the running, suffering an ‘ideal’ gap of over four tenths. For Red Bull, it must be said they failed to put together a setup that solved all the RB21’s problems.
They managed it at Imola, but Monaco was too difficult. From yesterday to today, not much changed, meaning the Austrian team continued to struggle with the red tire. This highlights how important tire management is. The RB21 was faster on Mediums because Pirelli’s yellow-band tires tend to be more consistent over the lap.
The explanation is straightforward: Red Bull could keep the tire in the correct operating window for longer. With the red tire, however, as we had already pointed out yesterday, from mid-lap onwards performance dropped. More precisely, from turn 8 on, Max Verstappen was losing performance as if the rear was already “cooked.”
