The Monaco Grand Prix weekend has begun with a very interesting first practice session session in Monte Carlo, where teams were able to carry out their work programs without any particular issues. Ferrari immediately stands out, choosing not to use the soft compound, for purely logistic reasons. The attempt is indeed to increase the grip of the tire as Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz gain confidence with the track, instead of putting a car with a high peak of grip in the hands of the drivers, only to perhaps return to harder compounds later in the day, thereby prolonging adaptation times. This shows how focused the Maranello team is on maximizing the result in the qualifying session, which is obviously the key session of the entire race weekend on the street circuit of the Principality. We have analyzed the data from the first session as usual, but with the premise that if the first practice session is normally just an introductory phase to the weekend, in Monaco this effect is even more evident, with still much room for improvement for everyone before really pushing in the 12 most important minutes of the weekend, namely the final stages of the qualifying session on Saturday afternoon.
The initial impact of the SF-24 on Charles Leclerc’s home track was objectively excellent. Although regularly using disadvantaged compounds compared to the competition, the Monegasque driver, with more ease but often followed by his Maranello teammate Carlos Sainz, gradually lowered the time, with great control of the car, which never seemed to particularly struggle at any point on the track during this initial practice session. Good in traction, fast in medium-speed corners, and with good mechanics in the many very slow corners, Ferrari has therefore debuted with a baseline setup that appeared well-centered, including the new rear wing, which seems to have provided downforce as well as stability and traction grip. Of course, differences can only be measured when things get serious, but it is important to note from the data how Charles Leclerc has always been cautious in braking, a phase in which he usually prevails this season.
It will be interesting to assess whether this tendency is just a matter of caution or if perhaps the new very “strong” rear end gives slightly less confidence to the front end during hard braking. The latter, however, seems a remote hypothesis, with Charles Leclerc’s caution not to make particular mistakes (along with the harder compound) justifying the data extensively.
The car from Woking is performing better than expected for now, with the beautiful yellow livery in honor of Ayrton Senna and with Oscar Piastri finding an excellent performance. It’s worth pointing out that in the last races, the Australian has been growing a lot in pure performance, especially with the updated car, which is showing encouraging characteristics. The MCL38 is indeed very fast in medium-speed sections like Massenet and Casino and at the Swimming Pool, confirming a strong aerodynamic imprint of the car, but also performing very well in the very slow section from Mirabeau to the tunnel, with a mechanical setup that seems particularly well-chosen for now.
The biggest struggle for Oscar Piastri was the double exit of Rascasse and Noghes, where his McLaren lost about a tenth in traction along with the top session position. Notably, in the fast sections of the first sector, like Massenet and Casino, Oscar Piastri lifts off the accelerator very early, managing with partial braking (which the data does not show as brake data is binary, but it is easy to infer given the speed trend) and probably engine braking the deceleration and corner entry. The best performance was achieved by Lewis Hamilton, who, however, based on the data, has not appeared superior to McLaren and Ferrari in drivability in slow sections, nor particularly brilliant in medium-speed sections, but with significant traction and straight performance, possibly due to a slightly more aggressive engine map for the Mercedes power unit.
On the other hand, the Red Bull RB20 single-seater and its World Champion Max Verstappen have appeared to struggle more, especially with absorbing the track’s bumps. The Austrian car seemed to have a very stiff basic setup, with great difficulty in managing the bumps and thus the high-frequency stresses of the Monaco street circuit. Once again, the initial difficulty seems to lie in the suspension department for the Milton Keynes team, which will need to find a better compromise than seen in the first session to give confidence to the drivers, who would otherwise be forced to take less risks, making it a complicated situation for this track. History, even the recent one from last weekend, obviously teaches great caution in not considering Max Verstappen as a favorite to take pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix, as the Red Bull engineers have often proven excellent at recovering imperfect work in the factory with perfect execution on the track over the weekend, especially from Friday to Saturday, as was the case last time out in Imola. We will see what further impressions are in the second practice and how the Ferrari SF-24 car will perform on the soft compound.
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