European Ferrari fans had quite a pleasant awakening. The first two Melbourne practice sessions held during the night and early morning highlighted some encouraging signs for the Ferrari SF-24, car, which is leading the Friday standings on this first day of track action in view of the 2024 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix. The Albert Park circuit is still partially dirty and will clean up during the next sessions on Saturday.
Albert Park is certainly a very specific track, and for this reason, we have seen a lot of work, in terms of setup, on many cars. Max Verstappen is chasing the red number 16 car with a gap of about 4 tenths. In the second free practice session, the Maranello team started with the yellow tire to fine-tune the setup as track engineers Riccardo Adami and Xavier Marcos Padros provided a lot of driving indications to Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc.
We’re talking about a very useful practice to optimize all sections of the track, seeking greater speed in certain sections. Overall, the SF-24 was very well balanced with the basic setup. No major changes, just several load adjustments. The car tends to oversteer at times, but it’s not a problem, while the corner entry phase seems to have been preserved to make it more efficient during the final free practice session. The decision to bring the same rear wing specification is paying off, as the behavior of the car can be gradually refined.
As we examined yesterday, Ferrari is using a specific rear end setup with a smaller frontal area compared to Red Bull, which has chosen to load the rear more than the average. Based on the images provided by the media from the Melbourne paddock, we can observe the direct comparison between the two components in question.
Red Bull started FP2 very late with Max Verstappen. The Dutchman went out with the yellow tire when the rest of the group was already starting to work with the Soft, which means there was some slight uncertainty in the first laps, also due to tire temperature. However, an interesting fact emerged from the team radio: the Red Bull driver complained about how the front-left tire was completely worn out after the mini runs for the fast lap simulation. The Austrian team will need to analyze the data carefully to understand how to take care of this tire and stress it as little as possible during the session.
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We also noticed several lock-ups at turn 13, where the RB20 was losing the rear on entry, a secondary problem solved immediately by adjusting the brake balance. The reigning world champion then complained about slight understeer in the medium-speed corners of the last sector. In this case, the team reduced the lack of rotation by increasing the incidence of the front wing. Their fear, arriving at this track, was to find themselves with a light rear, a dynamic not new to the record-breaking team.
Australian GP 2024/FP2 Performance Analysis: Ferrari SF-24 and Red Bull RB20 Equal in Potential
Comparing only the micro-sectors in the Red Bull versus. Ferrari challenge, some noteworthy factors stand out. Firstly, we can see that in high-speed corners, the SF-24 confirms its excellent aerodynamic platform stability. That said, the red car still seems to lack a bit of stability in direction changes, such as between turns 6 and 7, where, on the contrary, the RB20 showed very good performance.
At lower speeds, the blue racing cars seem to show better performance in corner exit. Therefore, we could argue that the Maranello team, at least today, has not fully showcased the excellent traction that characterized previous projects, which could be partly lacking due to some choices related to the setup. In all of this, we must once again remember how Red Bull has chosen a configuration with more downforce at the rear.
This factor, in turn, does not allow speeds to decrease enough to suggest that grip contribution comes almost exclusively from the suspension mechanics. Furthermore, we note how even in the third sector of the Albert Park circuit, the RB20 car is able to perform at its best in the exit of turn 11 and especially turn 13, where the Ferrari still needs a lot of work in FP3 to increase performance in view of the qualifying session.
Observing the micro-sectors, furthermore, a good speed on the straight of the Austrian car is evident, as the RB20 manages to gain primarily on the main straight and between turn 10 and 11. Optimization is still lacking in sectors 8 and 9, where instead the SF-24 responds very well, also thanks to the lower level of aerodynamic incidence. Crossing the data of the micro-sectors with that of the maximum speeds, it is evident how Ferrari and Red Bull are currently equal. A very interesting aspect for qualifying, but also in terms of the race with a high quantity of fuel on board.
Australian GP 2024/FP2 Performance Analysis: Ferrari Needs to Improve SF-24 Performance in S3
To try to understand the situation on the flying lap from a macroscopic point of view, let’s now examine the gaps in the three sectors. Charles Leclerc maximized performance throughout the session, albeit without inflicting a large gap on the rest of the group. Considering that Max Verstappen is close in the second and third sectors, the gap is mainly concentrated in the first sector of the track, where the Dutchman needs to find something to close in on the push-lap. To improve the first sector, Red Bull will necessarily have to vary the warm-up strategy, as part of the gap can undoubtedly be inflicted by a tire not yet in the optimal window.
In the final free practice session, the Prancing Horse will have to continue refining the setup work to progress in the final two sectors, where the RB20 is only a few hundredths ahead. In 2022, when Ferrari won in Melbourne, they were able to build the decisive advantage in the final sector. A totally different situation this year, where indeed the two cars are equal in that sector. As for the other teams, we can say that currently the third force seems to be Aston Martin, with McLaren, however, possibly able to get closer significantly.
Analyzing the general micro-sectors, we note how the team based in Silverstone proves to be the strongest in the various straights of the track. In cornering phases, however, the two AMR24 cars are not exceptional at all. Crossing telemetric data with information gathered through on-board observation of the cars, it is worth noting a certain instability in cornering. The rear tends to lighten in some phases between entry and the turn. This explains why in the first sector, where there are more slow stretches, the green car lags behind the other competitors.
McLaren, on the other hand, seems well balanced and above all seems to have greater stability. Even for the papaya-colored cars, there is work to be done in corners, where they seem to have some small understeer problems, often struggling to hit the apex well. Technicians have tried to load the rear of the MCL38 to ensure optimal grip. Essentially, then, we can say that McLaren and Aston Martin build the lap in opposite ways. This aspect could favor the AMR24 in qualifying, which then, with a more oversteering behaviour in the race, could suffer more tire wear.
Finally, we come to Mercedes, which completed a decent first practice session, but then, during FP2, may have lost its way, perhaps also due to the wind, which bothered George Russell especially. We’re talking about a rear that is too often not generating enough downforce, but by hitting the correct operating window of the car, makes the W15 appear fairly balanced. Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin mentioned that they were happy with the progress made in terms of stability in the fast corners in FP1, where they had suffered several problems. It remains to be seen if in the final free practice session for the Australian Grand Prix they are able to put everything together to access the maximum possible performance.
Source: Alessandro Arcari and Niccoló Arnerich for FUnoanalisitecnica
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