Ferrari SF-24: a lot of downforce in S3, more speed needed in S1 at Sakhir circuit

Scuderia Ferrari has concluded the first day of free practice with the SF-24, offering a valuable assessment to further understand the car after last week’s pre-season testing session at the Sakhir circuit. This provides an excellent starting point to refine the setup, especially in track conditions with lower temperatures. It’s a useful context to address some unresolved aspects.

The Prancing Horse continued working on long runs to improve the car’s behavior during race phases. On the push lap, a somewhat light rear end was observed, a characteristic already noted during testing. The rear of the car has slightly become unstable during entry. However, this handling behaviour is not really an issue for the drivers, thanks to a more solid front end with increased grip.

There are still some issues to resolve in the final corner of the track, indicating that in that last section of the circuit, the tires tended to overheat. To avoid this, a different warm-up strategy must be adopted to optimize the lap. Similarly, there were some rotation problems at the entry of turn 3, which will be addressed through fine-tuning. Red Bull also showed a dancing rear end on corner entry, a behavior influenced by higher track temperatures.

Maximum and minimum speeds – FP2 – Bahrain GP 2024. Source: FUnoanalisitecnica

Once the Soft tires were fitted, the two RB20 cars showed a significantly improved balance: plenty of lateral grip and a rear end finally in harmony with the front-end. Max Verstappen made a few steering errors and was not outstanding. A good, stable drive, not maximizing performance in the three sectors. A bit of understeer that required an increase in front wing incidence by a few clicks. We should still expect a step in terms of power from the engine.

Currently, there is a 3 km/h difference with Ferrari’s number 16, whose engine seems to make a certain difference, as Nico Hulkenberg also manages to achieve an excellent top speed. On the other hand, it’s worth pointing out the step forward made by Mercedes: the technicians have worked well on the W15, unlocking performance thanks to better rear suspension work, equipped with a practically horizontal support.

Show your support for Scuderia Ferrari with official merchandise collection! Click here to enter the F1 online Store and shop securely! And also get your F1 tickets for every race with VIP hospitality and unparalleled insider access. Click here for the best offers to support Charles and Carlos from the track!

The German team tried a setup with very low ground clearances, to the extent that car number 63 produced sparks all over the track in the initial laps. They were trying to generate as much downforce as possible, but during the tests, they had to raise the car by one or two millimeters at the front. A gap in the area of the t-tray suggests that they were also conducting some tests with sensors to study the optimal ride height.

Overall, the black and grey car has more over-rotation than under-rotation. In other words, to simplify, the car tends to oversteer to some extent, but even in this case, like Ferrari, the balance seems to please the drivers, especially Lewis Hamilton. Corrections are visible in medium-fast corners, like 11 and 13, where the rear tends not to follow the front at the exit.

Bahrain GP 2024/Performance Analysis: Ferrari SF-24 needs to work on the first sector

The W15 is particularly fast in sector 1, where it manages to optimize pure acceleration between turns 2 and 3, as we can easily observe in the following graphical summary that compares the micro-sectors making up the Sakhir track. This diagram appears highly segmented, but by carefully examining the image, we note that in some braking points such as turn 8 and turn 11, Mercedes manages to gain valuable time.

Sector comparison FP2 – Bahrain GP 2024. Source: FUnoanalisitecnica

Ferrari needs to fix something in the first sector, regaining the speed seen in the tests where it stood out for traction. There is confirmed stability in the braking phase, especially in turns 1 and 4. The area between 8 and 10 also needs to be optimized, with the goal of gaining crucial fractions of a second. The two SF-24s are fairly balanced in the straight between turns 12 and 13, where downforce is needed, a very positive sign that needs confirmation for the rest of the weekend.

The Red Bull RB20 is far from the best performance in the first sector but excels in the second one, where all its strengths come to the fore, especially at the exit of 10, during traction. It is a part of the circuit where the red car should regain some lost traction. The Austrian car is generally good on the straights, but we wait to see how much power they can unleash in Q3 on Friday.

Source: FUnoanalisitecnica

It is interesting to note that the fastest cars are in the same area of the chart, namely close to aerodynamic efficiency. Mercedes has taken a step forward in this regard, reducing drag on the W15 by containing losses along the car. Aston Martin is also showing a clear improvement under this aspect, so much so that both cars are positioned between the axes of low drag and high efficiency.

Ideal qualifying pace – FP2 – Bahrain GP 2024. Source: FUnoanalisitecnica

Let’s summarize the potential pecking order considering the ideal laps of the drivers, namely by adding up the best sectors for each. Mercedes leads the chart, with Aston Martin 3 tenths behind the first W15. The fastest Ferrari is Carlos Sainz‘s, 4 tenths adrift, the same gap as Max Verstappen. The impression is also that the W15 used a very extreme setup regarding ground clearances. It remains to be seen whether the rest of the teams can push on this front.