Scuderia Ferrari performed well in the first free practice session for the ninth round of the 2024 Formula 1 season, the Canadian Grand Prix. A shortened free practice, as the marshals worked hard in an attempt to dry the track with special machinery. In the limited time available, the first indications still emerged. In the changing climatic conditions of the 4.361-kilometre Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in Montreal, the two Ferrari cars showed excellent tire management. We refer to the fact that the front axle, both with the green-banded Pirelli Intermediates and the red-colored Softs, showed extreme ease in activation.
This is a very important parameter, as having difficulty in bringing the front tires up to temperature and consequently creating an imbalance between the two axles essentially means underperforming. Considering the poor qualifying session at the Chinese Grand Prix on a wet track, where the SF-24 cars suffered tremendously from this problem, Friday’s findings in Montreal are a relief for drivers, technicians, and engineers. However, this aspect needs to be confirmed, as the first hour available is not enough to confirm a step forward in this respect.
For the rest, we can say that several tests related to the hybrid system took place. This concerns the energy recovery strategy, where the Ferrari power unit engineers decided to adopt the tactic successfully used in Monaco. It involves spreading the peak power recovered from the two motor generators, MGU-H and MGU-K, during acceleration phases, with the clear objective of providing the Ferrari SF-24 with a traction boost. If managed properly, this measure minimizes the gap in this fundamental area that the Italian car has against Red Bull.
F1, Ferrari Studies Setup on Mediums
Now let’s take a detailed look at how things unfolded for Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz in the second free practice session for the Canadian Grand Prix. Compared to FP1, it seems that the session can start without delays. The weather remains challenging, and rain is just above the cloudy sky covering the Montreal circuit. The risk of rain is 100% according to Meteo France forecasts. However, compared to the first outing on the Quebec track, the track surface seems much more usable. Inside the Italian garage, Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc are busy with the final useful communications with their race engineers. In the two SF-24 cars, the drivers are consulting the telemetry data. With 3 minutes to the green light, the pit lane is already crowded.
Carlos Sainz was among those who went out on track. Unfortunately, the rain arrived, and he was called back to the pits. Charles Leclerc, on the other hand, had stayed in the pits, so he left the pit lane two minutes later with intermediates. The Monegasque driver completed the outlap very slowly, talking continuously with Bryan Bozzi, who asked him to return to the pits. Apparently, the issue was this: he went out before the race direction declared the session “wet.” For this reason, the Ferrari driver was investigated at the end of the session and Ferrari received a €5,000 fine for the regulatory violation.
Five minutes pass, and the Ferrari SF-24 cars are back on the Gilles-Villeneuve track, this time both on medium Pirelli tires. The track remains “damp,” but the grip level seems sufficient to run. Of course, there are frequent inspections and off-track moments from several drivers due to the difficult conditions. On the second lap, Ferrari breaks the hesitation and orders a switch to Engine Map 1 for maximum power on the internal combustion engine. Without fear, the Maranello drivers try to complete as many laps as possible. The goal is to gather as much information as possible and validate the setup in view of the rest of the Montreal weekend.
Once the tire temperature stabilized, the Ferrari cars showed good balance, despite the low grip level and some traction issues exiting Turn 2 where the track surface is much wetter. While Charles Leclerc has no trouble staying in the correct working range, Carlos Sainz struggles a bit more. In this mini stint with a decent amount of fuel onboard, Ferrari frequently changes the power unit mappings. This is very important data collection.
Almost halfway through the session, the race direction enabled the use of the DRS, which was previously prohibited. Riccado Adami and Bryan Bozzi informed the drivers that they could finally use the drag reduction system. The Monegasque showed a very good pace, considering that unlike the rest of the grid, except for his Maranello teammate and the two McLaren cars of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, he was on a less performing Medium compound compared to the Softs. The results are very good. This run lasted a remarkable 12 laps. The Spaniard from Ferrari completed one more, 13 laps, although as mentioned, he seemed to struggle more with managing the balance of his SF-24 car.
F1, Charles Leclerc on Ferrari Fastest on Track with Intermediates
Given the less than optimal track conditions, the handling of the Maranello cars can be described as good. The pit stop lasted about ten minutes. After that, the Ferrari drivers left the pit lane again. This time the set of Pirelli tires had green bands, intermediates, as the rain quickly flooded the track again. Even in this case, although the grip on the asphalt was significantly lower than in the previous stint and correcting the car was impossible, the Ferrari cars performed quite well.
It is still worth noting a spin by Leclerc at turn 10, as the recent Monaco Grand Prix winner overdid it on the gas and lost the rear. However, it was a harmless spin without any consequences. The same scenario occurred for Sainz, who, like his teammate, had to correct his car several times over the course of the lap. There’s an interesting point mentioned by Adami: when Carlos goes out on intermediates, he reminds the Spanish driver that the setup is currently for rain.
In this final part of the second free practice session, Charles Leclerc was the fastest driver. Constant Charles is not too happy, because although the aforementioned spin did not damage the car, the tires were affected according to the Ferrari driver. For this reason, he cut the run two laps short compared to his Maranello teammate, making a pit stop before returning to the grid to attempt a standing start in second gear.
In conclusion, we can reaffirm Ferrari’s good ability to activate the tires at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in Montreal. This is a very important factor, as it determines competitiveness in such difficult track scenarios. Carlos Sainz was not as sharp as his teammate in these conditions, but his performance was still positive.
Source: FUnoanalisitecnica
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