Ferrari unstoppable in Monaco thanks to optimal traction for SF-24 (data analysis)

The Formula 1 weekend in Monaco concluded with a Ferrari victory thanks to local hero Charles Leclerc, driver of the red number 16 car, who finally secured his first win of the 2024 Formula season and at the same time broke the curse that had plagued him on the twisty Monte Carlo circuit since 2017. Starting from pole position, the Ferrari driver capitalized on a race that promised to be dull and confirmed this expectation, partly due to the incident involving the two Haas cars of Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez’s Red Bull, which effectively eliminated the only variable that could have spiced up the race, the mandatory pit stop.

From lap 2 onwards, the drivers were obligated to manage their tire set for the entire race, avoiding a pit stop that would have relegated them to the back in a track where overtaking is notoriously difficult. But let’s analyze the various phases of the race in detail using the average telemetry data. We do this by focusing on the top four finishers: the Ferrari duo “interspersed” with the McLaren duo, who, starting on Medium compounds, decided to switch to the hardest tires after the red flag at the start to finish the Grand Prix.

This situation at least provided a good opportunity to analyze the behavior of the two aforementioned cars under the same strategy on the circuit with the lowest average speed in the Formula 1 championship. A track where the MCL38 needed to confirm improvements made in slow sections with the updated car. Meanwhile, the Maranello team aimed to disprove claims that the updated version of the SF-24 was less performant than the base version, both in terms of handling and traction.

F1, Ferrari Manages Tires and Pit Stop Window

The first two-thirds of the Monaco Grand Prix proceeded very linearly, with the top four drivers separated by mere tenths on the track and hundredths in lap times. During this phase, some differences between the cars became evident, due to both the natural characteristics of the cars and tire management carried out in different parts of the circuit. Charles Leclerc was the slowest on all straights because he lacked slipstream and DRS, unlike his rivals who had time to study the rear of the car ahead for much of the F1 Grand Prix.

At Sainte Devote (Turn 1), the four drivers showed different approaches with Charles Leclerc entering faster, the McLaren cars quicker at mid-corner, and Carlos Sainz better in traction on exit. The Spaniard overall navigated it better. At Massenet and Casino, namely turns 3 and 4, some preferred entry speed while others focused on exit speed, with the Monegasque driver carrying higher average speed through the left-right compared to his rivals, followed closely by Oscar Piastri, who was the closest to him. Unsurprisingly, the Australian clocked the fastest first sector time.

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He does so by a few thousandths over the Ferrari SF-24 cars and by a few hundredths over his teammate, confirming that the gaps are indeed minimal, as we mentioned earlier. Now we enter the more tortuous part of the track where McLaren confirms the progress made since the introduction of their update at the Miami Grand Prix. The papaya-colored F1 car shows the highest minimum speed at mid-corner throughout the section in question. Conversely, the two Ferraris seem to favor traction on exit from Mirabeau Bas (turn 7) and especially from Portier (turn 8), which launches them into the tunnel with a significantly better boost.

At the Port Chicane, the difference that Charles Leclerc’ SF-24 maintains in this section is evident: braking harder on entry, maintaining speed through the corner, and accelerating earlier on exit. This allows him to gain a lot and reach Tabac with a higher speed. Turn 12, which is tackled by the two McLarens at higher speeds (especially by Lando Norris), marks the beginning of a portion of the track where both Ferrari cars seem to manage their tires better compared to their competitors, particularly with Carlos Sainz using the brakes.

The second sector ends with Charles Leclerc consistently clocking the best time, highlighted by a perfectly executed Nouvelle Chicane, aided by traction that Ferrari seems to have rediscovered. The Monegasque driver leads by a few hundredths over Oscar Piastri, followed by Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz within a tenth. The third sector features one of the thrilling points of the track (one of many): the entry to the Swimming Pool. In this part of the circuit, none of the four drivers make a significant difference, likely to avoid getting too close to the inner guardrail that has caused many accidents over the years.

Carlos Sainz seems to approach it more cautiously than the others. The last two corners, Rascasse and Anthony Noghes, reflect what we have seen throughout the race, with Lando Norris’ McLaren MCL38 faster at mid-corner and Ferrari focused on maximizing the exit onto the start-finish straight. Overall, Oscar Piastri proves to be the fastest. The third and final sector concludes with a “purple” sector time from the Australian driver, leading the other three by a few hundredths, who are incredibly separated by just a thousandth.

Overall, the first 57 laps show absolute balance, with the top four closely matched, and in particular, the two Ferrari cars playing a strategic game. As we heard from the team radio messages, Charles Leclerc was instructed to match George Russell’s lap times, aiming to keep the pit stop window open. This gap had formed during the race due to the Mercedes driver’s need to make his Medium tire last until the end of the race.

The Spaniard, on the other hand, was engaged in intense discussions with his race engineer, Riccardo Adami, in an attempt not to give Lando Norris the opportunity to pit, come out ahead of George Russell, and potentially launch a comeback that, according to the Spaniard, could even endanger Charles Leclerc’s position.

Last part of the race shows us a different scenario. Charles Leclerc is given the opportunity to push a bit more before the final parade. The Monegasque doesn’t need to be told twice, stringing together a series of laps that in a few laps give him an 8-second advantage over Oscar Piastri, who can’t keep up the pace, also due to damage to the floor of his car caused by contact on lap 1 with Carlos Sainz.

Charles Leclerc remains the slowest in all the straights, closely followed by the Australian in the McLaren, who gradually loses the slipstream and DRS of the Ferrari driver, affecting his top speed. However, it is in most of the corners where Charles Leclerc makes the difference. This is very clear in turn 1 where he brakes hard, carries a lot of speed through the middle of the corner, and manages to have optimal rotation of the car. Without a doubt, he is the fastest in the traction phase towards Massenet.

This part of the track is taken at a lower speed compared to his rivals, but it allows him to have a very good run-in and exit from Casino, resulting in him being the fastest in that section on average, as already seen in the first part of the race. Despite this, the first split time favors Oscar Piastri, who on average is a few hundredths ahead of the Monegasque talent and his Maranello teammate, with the Spanish driver number 55 being the slowest of all.

In the middle sector, as before, Charles Leclerc makes the difference again, matching the McLaren’s minimum speeds in the slow turns 5-6-7-8 and maintaining the “slingshot” traction that launches him as quickly as possible towards the tunnel. The Port Chicane always sees the Monegasque as the protagonist, then moving towards Tabac (turn 12) where McLaren continues to be the reference, reaching the end of the second split time where Charles Leclerc sets the fastest sector time of the day, gaining a tenth on his Maranello teammate, about 0.25 seconds on Lando Norris, and 0.3 seconds on Oscar Piastri.

It is evident that the gap has widened, mainly thanks to Charles Leclerc’s step forward in the very twisty section before the tunnel. Curves 13-14 once again feature a particular tire management by Ferrari, this time with the Monegasque driver, who seems to want to give the tires a breather. This management, however, lasts little, because he returns to being the fastest both at the Swimming Pool and in the last two corners, both in cornering and on exit, closely followed by his teammate.

It is no coincidence that Carlos Sainz is the fastest in the final sector, ahead of Lando Norris by a few thousandths, Charles Leclerc by about 0.1 seconds, a gap that was created due the lift at Louis Chiron, and Oscar Piastri by 0.2 seconds. The Australian seems to be struggling significantly in the slow sections, at least in the final phase of the race. At the finish line, the fastest is the Monegasque in the number 16 Ferrari, overall ahead by about 0.15 seconds over his teammate, slightly less than two-tenths over Lando Norris, and almost 0.4 over Oscar Piastri, who is clearly in difficulty at the end.

The last 20 laps highlight a superior Ferrari in terms of pace compared to the rivals, which, once freed from any doubts related to tire duration and potential windows to keep or not to give to the competitors, has confirmed what everyone expected. The updated SF-24 single-seater proved to be the absolute dominator of the Monaco weekend, with Charles Leclerc aware of the mental step and, above all, with many points recovered in both Formula 1 championships. And now the question that haunts the minds of the fans: can we dream of something more for the current championship? We just have to wait and hope.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24, Monaco