Ferrari optimizes traction to challenge McLaren | 2024 F1 Singapore GP preview. Ferrari has shown greater adaptability on tracks that feature less variety in corner types.

Scuderia Ferrari arrives at the 4.94-kilometre Marina Bay Street Circuit, round 18 of 2024 Formula 1 championship, with various awarenesses. The Italian team is experiencing a good moment after the summer break, and the goal for the Singapore Grand Prix, just a few days after the Azerbaijan weekend, is to confirm the positive trend. Doing so won’t be easy because the competition is quite fierce. The Italian team should arrive on Friday with some new developments, as we had previously reported. The SF-24 is a good car but still requires some adjustments to be able to fully exploit its potential.

According to information reported by various news media outlets, Ferrari has received excellent feedback at the simulation level and believes it can put together an optimal race weekend. To do this, they will have to fine-tune every detail and make progress throughout the free practice sessions as they did at the Baku City Circuit. Even on Asian soil, McLaren starts as the favorite, not forgetting Red Bull, which, despite not being in an easy moment, after understanding the mistakes made during the 2023 Formula 1 season, will try to give its best by fully exploiting the characteristics of its car, such as its excellent traction.

The Singapore circuit, although traditionally considered a slow street track, has seen an evolution in recent editions that has increased overall speed. However, it remains characterized by a prevalence of slow, technical corners, where precision is essential. The layout winds through narrow, twisting streets, with walls very close and little room for error. The low-speed corners require excellent traction on exit, while the long straights demand an effective compromise between downforce and top speed.

This combination makes the Asian F1 track very challenging for both drivers and teams, who must find the right balance between stability and performance across various sections of the circuit. Additionally, the heat and stifling humidity of Singapore pose a significant challenge for tire management, as they tend to overheat very quickly. Teams must therefore work carefully on balancing the setup to manage not only the car’s behavior but also tire degradation in these potentially extreme conditions.

Last year, Ferrari demonstrated that it could adapt very well to the characteristics of Singapore’s streets. The SF-24 will therefore be put on track starting from the good work done in 2023, aiming to replicate that success, when Carlos Sainz secured a memorable race victory, the one Grand Prix that Red Bull did not win last year. One of the key aspects that allowed the “red” team to achieve a good result was the ability to find a balanced setup that gave the drivers confidence, allowing them to push to the maximum and exploit every inch of the track, brushing against the walls without making mistakes. This kind of “confidence” in the car is crucial on a track like Marina Bay.

It is because every fraction of a second can only be gained by pushing to the absolute limit. However, the Ferrari SF-24 has some technical differences compared to last year’s car. The 2024 Formula 1 car suffers from less traction capability when exiting slow corners, a factor that could pose a challenge in Singapore, where the acceleration phase is crucial to tackling the many low-speed corners effectively. The Maranello team has worked intensively to understand how to maximize the car, which stands out for greater precision in corner entry.

As we clearly saw on the streets of Baku, the SF-24 struggles to be competitive in acceleration compared to some competitors, like McLaren. Another critical issue that has emerged in this racing season is the reduction of mechanical grip available compared to the previous Formula 1 campaign. This limitation is particularly evident in slow corners, where mechanical grip is crucial on order to achieve competitive lap times. The MCL38 single-seater has made huge progress in this area, thanks to targeted work on aerodynamics that has been ongoing for several months, making the car more effective precisely under these conditions.

Despite this, Ferrari has shown greater adaptability on Formula 1 circuits that feature less variety in corner types, like Singapore, where the continuity of the track design reduces the complexity of finding an optimal balance. The SF-24, while acknowledging its limitations in terms of traction and mechanical grip, finds circuits like Marina Bay an opportunity to mask some of its weaknesses. The fact that the track doesn’t present strong differences between slow and fast corners allows the Ferrari engineers to focus on a setup that optimizes the entire car.

All of this without having to face excessive compromises between the different sections of the track. Furthermore, the Italian team will aim to lower the ride height as much as possible to improve aerodynamic efficiency, taking advantage of the fact that the track surface has been partially renewed in recent editions, reducing the impact of the typical bumps. However, considering a lower ride height might increase the risk of porpoising, a phenomenon that has affected many teams in the past. It will be crucial to find the right compromise to avoid stability issues and ensure predictable behavior throughout the circuit.

In conclusion, Ferrari arrives in Singapore with a mixed technical package: while some difficulties may arise and need to be addressed, the red team can rely on positive experience on this type of F1 track. The goal will be to maximize the setup of the SF-24 car, a necessary move to find the right balance between traction, stability, and precision. These are key elements to aim for a competitive result on the iconic Marina Bay circuit and to try to reduce to gap against Red Bull and McLaren in the battle for the 2024 Formula 1 Constructors’ championship.