The historic Scuderia Ferrari needs to erase the last two rounds of the 2024 Formula 1 championship where performance did not meet expectations. In Austria, the chance to do well seems to be there. The protagonists themselves confirmed it, stating that the data obtained from the driver-in-the-loop simulator provided a clear response in this regard: the Prancing Horse can compete for victory at the Red Bull Ring, but as always, the track will give confirmation to the hypothetical scenario. For now let’s focus on the first and only free practice session, where attention to the setup of the cars was crucial ahead of the Sprint Race.
Yes, once again, the special format designed by Liberty Media will be present. No second and three practice sessions, but an additional qualifying session and a 100 kilometer mini-race. The opportunity is there for Ferrari, and according to information gathered directly from the Spielberg paddock, there is optimism within the Ferrari garage. For the race weekend at the 4.318-kilometre Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, the Maranello technicians aim to optimize the performance of the SF-24 in high-speed corners and, at the same time, the chosen setup aims to enhance top speeds at the end of the straight sections.
Regarding the rest, it can be said that the sterile controversy about the two drivers has subsided. Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc have cleared things up as always. This does not mean that close encounters between the two will no longer happen. On the other hand, the Spaniard is thinking about his future and aims to showcase himself, while the Monegasque is trying to build the team for future seasons. Team principal Frederic Vasseur did not make a drama out of it, although a reprimand towards the Ferrari drivers did come. Without further ado, let’s take a look at the Ferrari garage and how things unfolded for Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz in the only free practice session for the Austrian Grand Prix, keeping in mind that both SF-24 cars have the updates from Spain: slimmer sidepods and a new version of the floor modified in various areas.
The Ferrari garage appears quite calm in the start of FP1, a sign that the situation is under control. The Maranello team is ready to maximize the sixty minutes available where the setup studied at the factory will be tested. The collected data will help validate the updates that the Italian team hopes to use much better at the Red Bull Ring compared to last week in Spain. Weather conditions for FP1: 23.5 degrees Celsius air temperature, 31.4 degrees Celsius asphalt temperature. Humidity at 64%, wind intensity at 2.6 kilometers per hour blowing from the east quadrant.
The two Ferrari cars leave the pit lane. For the first run of the session, both Italian cars are equipped with a set of white-banded Pirelli tires. A compound that offers more consistent performance throughout the stint, favoring data collection on the setup to better understand every single aspect of the car. A lot of attention is paid to warm-up on the outlap. The hybrid system is set to Soc 2, high performance for the motor generators. Gearbox set to Gx3. Push mode engaged and off they go. Carlos Sainz has to lift off due to traffic from a Red Bull.
Charles Leclerc, on the other hand, completes his lap, and according to the very first feedback, the balance of the SF-24 seems good. Then it’s Carlos Sainz’s turn, who, as anticipated in our preview, struggles a bit in turns 1 and 3 due to oversteer. On the second attempt, things improve even though he is undoubtedly pushing harder. Ferrari race engineers Riccardo Adami and Bryan Bozzi suggest using various toggles to manage rotation with the differential, and the same for the gearbox, suggesting using one gear less in turn 4. No adjustments to the front wing for the Ferrari drivers, confirming a good balance.
After a couple of laps, they start pushing again. During cool-down laps, with telemetry in hand, the Ferrari pit wall provided an endless array of advice to optimize driving, corner by corner. Pre-mapped adjustments, usable via toggles located on the back of the steering wheel, are very popular. They now switch to a more aggressive engine mode: Engine 1 to test the quality of the 066/12 internal combustion engine. To give an assessment of this first run, we can say that the estimated excess rotation is present in turn 1.
For this reason, a lot of work is being done, especially on turn 3, which also has negative banking to limit oversteer. As for the second and third parts of the track, as expected, the handling of the SF-24 seems very good. This is the result of a setup aimed at maximizing this area of the circuit. As Charles Leclerc returns to the pits, Bryan Bozzi opens the radio to ask the Monegasque driver if he is with the car?. “Not completely, we’ll talk in the pits.” – was the response of the driver.
For the second run, the tires remain the same: Hard. Thus, the study of the setup continues. The first to hit the track is Carlos. Number 55 warms up the tires and goes for it. However, in turn 1 he makes a mistake and lifts off. Riccardo Adami suggests adjusting the load migration to refine the balance. Three minutes later, it is Charles Leclerc’s turn who, like his Maranello teammate, leaves the pit lane with white-banded Pirelli tires. For the Monegasque, an interesting fact is noted: during the stop, some adjustments were made to the suspension.
The grip at low speeds was too low. For this reason, Charles Leclerc requested and obtained one step less on the anti-roll bars. In other words, the overall suspension setup was softened by one step. The same work was done on Carlos Sainz’s car, but in his case, he chose more load installed on the front end. No time to see if the changes are effective as the red flag comes out: Max Verstappen stopped on the start straight is a victim of technical problems. The session stop does not last long, just enough time to remove the Red Bull RB20 from the track.
Back on the track surface of the Red Bull Ring, with a high amount of fuel on board still with the Hards, it is noted that car number 16, on the straights of the first and third sector, shows more pronounced aerodynamic bouncing. Most likely, Charles Leclerc chose to lower the car to have more downforce. In this stint, 5 laps without lifting off, the balance of the Ferraris seems improved. It remains to be seen if this “new handling” will translate into a time improvement. For the very last phase of the session, they mount the Soft tires with the goal of testing performance for the qualifying session.
Special care is taken during the outlap to perfectly achieve the tire performance. Although slight oversteer continues to be present, it seems to have been minimized. Undoubtedly, the extra grip provided by the red-banded compounds also contributed. Looking at the times, it is noted that the highest performance loss for Charles Leclerc compared to Max Verstappen occurs in the last two corners: two-tenths of the three and a half lost are taken only in this section. In the next attempt, things do not change, and at turn 9 there is a slip.
Source: FUnoanalisitecnica
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