Ferrari was ready to test the SF-24 in the single free practice session for the Qatar Grand Prix. In Formula 1, sixty minutes is truly a short amount of time to validate a setup. Yet, this is what all the teams on the grid must do, knowing that already this afternoon, the first qualifying session of the weekend will take place. This will determine the grid for the Sprint Race, where the first crucial points for the Constructors’ Championship will be awarded. “Let’s give it our all”: this is the message from Frederic Vasseur to his team after the truce between the Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz established to keep the 2024 Formula 1 championship dream alive.
The Prancing Horse does not arrive in Losail as the favorite, as the Italian cars are not particularly fond of high-speed corners. However, the setup will aim to optimize the red cars, with the goal of extracting the maximum performance from them. As previously reported, Ferrari has decided to once again test the new experimental floor. The Qatari track is perfect for assessing the potential of this major component, a fundamental element in generating downforce that, the more stable it is, delivers consistent performance in all driving conditions.
Now let’s take a detailed look at how events unfolded for Ferrari in the first free practice session at the 5.419-kilometre Lusail International Circuit.
The Maranello team is ready to face a truly tough challenge, as the Arab circuit, in addition to fast corners and technical sections, requires traction phases at much higher speeds than usual. This session will also involve tire testing. Unique macro and micro surface roughness, combined with high temperatures, will make tire management even more challenging. Without further ado, let’s jump into the SF-24 cars for this on-track session, which will provide the first feedback on the quality of the work done at the factory.
Before diving into the usual on-board coverage of the Maranello cars, let’s take a look at the weather conditions: air temperature is 26.5°C, track temperature is 21.3°C. Humidity is very low at 53%, and the wind blows from the north at 4.4 kilometers per hour. Everything is ready to hit the track, with only the green light awaited. The Ferrari drivers are in their cars, focusing to perform at their best. One last glance at the telemetry after the final checks on the single-seaters, and off they go.
For this first run, both SF-24 cars are fitted with a set of white-banded Pirelli tires. The Hard tires will provide stable performance to precisely study the car’s behavior. The gearbox is set to position Gx3. The track engineers emphasize the importance of activating the tires using the rear brakes. In Charles Leclerc’s case, with the new floor, he is instructed to maintain a constant speed in the first sector. The track still appears a bit “green,” and some corrections can be observed. The work program involves several laps without lifting off, it seems.
At the moment, the engine mapping is set to Engine 4, the standard configuration used during races. Carlos Sainz appears less comfortable than his teammate, even requesting a pit stop for a front wing adjustment. However, this does not happen as he prefers to continue testing the car. After three consecutive laps, the red cars take a breather to cool the tires. Some advice is given to improve handling, while checks are carried out on the hybrid system’s effectiveness with the support of the motor generators.
The trend for the red car remains the same: an excess of rotation, especially on exits from the faster corners. The pit wall’s attention is high, providing a series of insights on the car’s drivability. Now, the internal combustion engine is switched to maximum power to gather the most useful feedback possible on the engine’s importance. Sainz is forced to lift off due to significant traffic, which is challenging to manage effectively on this circuit, considering the track layout.
Charles Leclerc seems in great shape. He positions himself ahead of everyone else, despite using a slower compound, the yellow-banded one, compared to the rest of the competitors. The Spaniard also improves his time, although he struggles more than the Monegasque. After about twenty minutes, the red cars enter the pit lane. Given the limited time available, the SF-24s stop in their pit boxes, where Medium compounds are fitted before quickly returning to the Qatari track surface. The work continues. It will be interesting to see how the two Ferrari cars perform with more grip.
The Ferrari drivers complete only one lap on the yellow-banded tires, performing a series of constant-speed tests before returning to the garage. Observing the dashboard, it’s evident that the red cars begin the lap with low front-end temperatures, with the left front heating up quickly due to lateral stress. Meanwhile, the rear appears to have slightly excessive temperatures. These are very interesting data points, as they help validate the warm-up strategy and determine if tactics need to change depending on the grip gained by the compounds. Undoubtedly, this is a key aspect for this race weekend.
After a short break, they return to the track with Hard tires as the warm Qatar night sets in. Charles is the first to go out, launching after warming up the tires. Two minutes later, Sainz follows suit, also on white-banded Pirellis, after a slight front-load adjustment. The red car seems well-balanced at the moment. The performance in Sector 3, with the fastest corners of the track, is notable, as the Ferraris are currently the quickest there. There is more difficulty in Sector 1, where the tires, perhaps by choice, do not yet appear to be in the optimal temperature range.
Charles does well, but Carlos Sainz performs even better, beating him by three-tenths. It seems the red cars start their laps with lower temperatures, causing slight difficulties in the first sector. However, this seems to pay off as the rest of the lap maintains stable temperatures. Overall, the balance seems very good, with no mid-corner snaps, and the downforce is stable. They now move on to race-pace simulations. Leclerc radios in, asking if there’s an issue with the car as he feels the brake pedal is behaving strangely.
The high-fuel tests are brief, with a total of four laps for the Monegasque and seven for the Spaniard, essentially confirming the earlier observations. Charles returns to the pits first to fit Medium tires. Carlos Sainz follows suit. As before, the two red cars complete just one lap on the Mediums without pushing before returning to the pits. For the final stint, they switch to Soft tires. This phase will reveal much about tire performance, as the Hard tires have a wider temperature window, while the red-banded Pirellis require a narrower range to operate effectively.
Riccardo Adami and Bryan Bozzi instruct the use of the “Tyre 1” mode to optimize the activation of the Soft tires. The extra grip significantly benefits the two Ferrari cars, which seem very well set up on the track. Leclerc clocks the fastest lap but still requests and receives a front-load adjustment: plus three. Sainz, however, struggles more with the Softs and does not find the right confidence to push on his first lap. On the radio, he mentions understeer and notes traffic as a factor. After a double cool-down lap, they attempt another run.
On his second attempt, Charles Leclerc improves his time again despite encountering traffic in Sector 1 and making two small errors in Turns 4 and 5. Carlos Sainz also improves but remains almost six-tenths off his teammate’s time. In conclusion, the red car, especially with Leclerc, has demonstrated excellent tire management, saving the tires in the first sector. It’s worth noting that car number 16 is equipped with the new experimental floor, which, at this point, should undoubtedly remain on the car for at least qualifying and the Sprint Race.
— see video above —
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