Scuderia Ferrari achieved an important second place with Charles Leclerc at the 5.419-kilometre Lusail International Circuit. In Formula 1, this result came from a well-calibrated strategy in the Qatar Grand Prix last weekend. The Monegasque driver managed the first part of the race with great caution, conserving the tires as much as possible, before pushing to the maximum in the final part of the stint. The idea was not his, but the team’s, which forced both Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc to adopt this strategy. Max Verstappen, the absolute dominator of the Lusail weekend, showed a pace that was unattainable, but Charles Leclerc’s result keeps the hopes alive for the Constructors’ Championship ahead of the final round of the 2024 Formula 1 season, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Lando Norris, the only competitor able to challenge Max Verstappen, was penalized for not slowing down under the yellow flag and this mistake significantly compromised his result. The stewards had a significant impact on the course of the race. The decision not to deploy a Virtual Safety Car to remove the debris from Alex Albon’s Williams mirror caused punctures for both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz, altering the course of the event. This episode raised controversies, as it was seen as a mistake that could affect the battle for the championship.
Looking at the data from the first stint, run on the medium tire, we can easily see how Max Verstappen and Lando Norris were virtually untouchable by the rest of the group. The pace set by the leading duo was about three-tenths faster than Charles Leclerc’s. The world champion made the difference over Lando Norris primarily in the first two sectors, using the exit phase of the corners. From the telemetry data collected from the Qatar Grand Prix, we can see how Lando Norris’s average gap drops during braking and increases during acceleration.
This means that the Briton favored the corner entry phase, where he couldn’t recover what he lost on exit and on the straights. Additionally, Lando Norris was saving fuel before turn 4, arriving there 7 km/h slower than Max Verstappen. The Briton was strong in the final part of the circuit, especially between turns 12 and 15, where he gained about 0.15s. For Ferrari, both drivers had to start the race very conservatively. This move was necessary to avoid issues with tire temperatures, prompting the team to adopt this strategy.
As explained by Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur, the introduction phase of the Pirelli yellow-walled tire was very difficult for the Scuderia. However, this precautionary approach ensured both drivers had more grip in the final part of the stint, where they were the fastest after Lando Norris and Max Verstappen. Looking specifically at Charles Leclerc’s conduct in the first part, it is noticeable that the greatest gap to Max Verstappen was made up in traction. Specifically, it concerns turn 1, 6, and 7, medium-slow corners that require a balanced car to combine throttle and steering angle.
Charles was the fastest in turn 5 and 9, where the time spent in the corner was shorter. Additionally, the Ferrari driver used the “trailing throttle” technique in all corners, never fully lifting his foot off the gas pedal. This is a technique often used by the Ferrari driver to favor the car’s rotation via the rear end. The first part of the race was also complicated for the two Mercedes drivers. George Russell, in third place, was losing more than 8 tenths per lap compared to Max Verstappen, and because of this, he had to pit earlier due to excessive tire degradation.
Similarly, behind Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton also never found a rhythm with the yellow-walled tire, lapping a second slower than the top drivers. The 7-time Formula 1 world champion was slowed down by Carlos Sainz in the early laps, showing grip problems from the sixth lap. The British driver couldn’t bring temperature to the tires due to the ineffective balance of his car. The setup he chose forced him to slow down more in the middle of the corners and be conservative on exit, especially in the medium-fast sections of the Qatari track.
After the last Safety Car, the Red Bull driver confirmed he was the fastest even with the hard tires. The Dutchman immediately opened a gap with Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc, setting a pace 4 tenths faster than the Monegasque. Lando showed he had the pace to compete, lapping only a tenth slower than Verstappen. The British driver quickly recovered to the back of the group after the stop & go, finishing tenth. Charles Leclerc was the third fastest on track, benefiting from a better adaptation of the SF-24 to the Hard tire, which allowed him to defend against Piastri.
Had he mounted the Medium, as many had speculated, he would have needed several laps to avoid destroying the tires. During that time, he would have been quite slow, making it easy for Oscar Piastri’s McLaren to catch him. On the other hand, if he had pushed immediately with the yellow-walled tires, he would have suffered from a lack of grip due to an ideal target temperature not being reached. Therefore, wisely, Ferrari avoided taking another risk, which, according to the calculations from the remote garage, would not have brought any advantage in race pace, as we have explained in this article.
The Monegasque driver suffered a slight drop in tire performance at the end of the stint, increasing his pace in the last 5 laps of the race. Carlos Sainz was stuck behind Pierre Gasly, who was impressive with an Alpine on the rise. The Frenchman gained an advantage in the middle sector, where he carried more speed through the corners than the Spaniard and was better in traction. Carlos Sainz closed the gap in the final sector, benefiting from a stiffer car that generated more aerodynamic downforce. However, this was not enough to attempt an overtake on the Frenchman on the pit straight.
All in all Ferrari optimized its performance in an unfavorable weekend. As in the Brazilian Grand Prix, the Maranello team showed its cynicism, extracting the maximum. Meanwhile, Lando Norris once again got caught up in the rush, benefiting Ferrari. Essentially, a weekend that was supposed to crown McLaren as world champion or make Abu Dhabi a mere formality instead gave hope back to the historic Italian team. The Maranello-based team has only one option at Yas Marina to bring a title that has been missing for 16 years back to the land of motors: a double podium, and hope that the third place does not feature a papaya-colored suit.
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