Ferrari explain fundamental difference in track layout that led to tyre issue. Why the situation was significantly different at Paul Ricard.

While Scuderia Ferrari were upfront on the grid again during the Monaco and Baku Grand Prix weekends, the team fell down at the Paul Ricard circuit and back to the midfield. Chief Strategist Inaki Rueda sees a fundamental difference in track layout as the reason.

Rueda explains that while a circuit like Monaco puts the greatest pressure on the rear tyres, the situation is significantly different at Paul Ricard. “There are some cases in which you can have very high tyre wear and do not suffer any lap time loss, these are tracks in which all the lap time is created by the traction of the rear tyres, you can have very high front wear, but still decent lap times. This happens at places like Baku or Monte Carlo”, said the Ferrari chief on the Twitter page of Ferrari.

At the Paul Ricard track, the focus is on the front tyres, which wear faster and leave a gap in the drivers’ lap times. Rueda believes this is the reason for the poor performance of the team. Both drivers of the Maranello team, Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc, finished this race outside the points.

Inaki Rueda explains: “When you go to tracks in which the wearing axel is the one giving you the lap times, like Barcelona or Paul Ricard, the front tyres are the ones giving you the lap times. If you have a lot of front wear it translates into degrading. We suffered with our lap times and that is why we struggled a lot in the race.” – he concluded.