Miami sprint analysis: Ferrari SF-24 less than 0.2s per lap behind Red Bull, overall negative degradation

In the 2024 Miami Formula 1 Sprint race, Charles Leclerc with his Ferrari SF-24 car demonstrated good feeling with the Miami International Autodrome in Florida, despite the fact that he did not participate in the only free practice session which was held on Friday. His second-place finish behind Max Verstappen was the result of an excellent setup devised in the simulator at Maranello. Various adjustments that can be made before the qualifying session and some race strategies might further close the gap between the Monegasque and the Dutchman, although the minimal degradation seen on the track today suggests a race likely featuring only one pit stop.

The world champion converted his pole position into a win thanks to a very aggressive start that forced Charles Leclerc to slow down to avoid hitting the wall at turn 1. However, the Dutchman complained of traction issues at the rear, with the Red Bull RB20 single-seater seeming unstable at the back. There was a noteworthy performance also from Daniel Ricciardo, who confirmed his fourth position. The Australian, thanks to a new chassis, found a good feeling and built a defensive race against Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard from Ferrari suffered from a suboptimal end of straight speed showing a high level of drag resistance, as did his Maranello teammate.

F1, Ferrari: Leclerc affected by EOSS. Sainz slowed down by Ricciardo

The telemetry data illustrating the average race pace in the Miami Sprint race shows a close absolute value between Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen. The Monegasque lost on average less than two-tenths per lap over the course of the 100 kilometer mini race, due to some errors and to allow the car to breathe. Daniel Ricciardo and Carlos Sainz, engaged in a tight battle, were losing about eight-tenths per lap from the leader. The Spaniard was undoubtedly faster, but being blocked by the Visa Cash App RB car essentially destroyed his chances of competing with the other Red Bull of Checo Perez.

The issue with End of Straight Speed, combined with the ongoing battle with the Australian, prevented the driver from Madrid from fully realizing the performance of his SF-24 number 55. A similar situation applies to Oscar Piastri, who, being the only McLaren on track, did not provide clear feedback regarding the updates brought to the circuit by the Woking team this weekend.

F1, Ferrari: Leclerc lets the SF-24 “breathe.” Overall negative degradation

The data regarding tire degradation confirms what was previously mentioned in terms of tire wear. All drivers, except for Lewis Hamilton who was slowed down by Kevin Magnussen, showed negative degradation. Lap times improved as the cars became lighter. Examining Charles Leclerc’s performance, it is evident that on laps 9 and 10, his times were slower, accumulating a certain gap from Max Verstappen. The Monegasque driver realized that attacking the world champion was not possible and chose to distance himself to let the car breathe.

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Moreover, his race engineer repeatedly asked him to be gentle on the tires, particularly when accelerating after turn 11 and entering turn 14. Max Verstappen, on the other hand, when asked about the overall balance of the car, responded irritably, complaining of a lot of instability at the rear. Max Verstappen requested adjustments to the settings in preparation for the qualifying session to improve the traction phase in slow corners. Similar degradation was observed for Carlos Sainz and Oscar Piastri behind Daniel Ricciardo.

Ferrari SF-24 faster than Red Bull at the end of S1. RB20 better in the slow sections

Let’s now focus on the telemetry data relating to the average speed of the drivers on each track section, in this case during the Sprint Race. With about 40 kilograms of fuel in the tank, Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc achieve similar speeds in the fast corners, at the end of the first sector. Charles Leclerc is even slightly faster on average than Max Verstappen, but this puts more stress on the tires. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton was unable to fully demonstrate the capabilities of his W15 in the first sector due to the presence of Kevin Magnussen in a Haas that was lighter and impossible to overtake.

In the slower and more technical section at the end of the second section, the two Red Bull cars always dominate. In this part of the track, Max Verstappen manages to gain a good 5 kilometers per hour over Charles Leclerc, even though he had some rear instability as mentioned. Oscar Piastri also performed well, potentially benefiting from updates brought to his car, recording a similar reference to the two Red Bull drivers.

Yesterday was a mixed day for Scuderia Ferrari. The Monegasque driver, with only 5 minutes of free practice behind him, got into car number 16 and immediately found a good feeling with his vehicle. He secured a front row position just behind Red Bull, which could have been pole. There was hard work on getting the tires up to temperature, which finally paid off, providing the correct grip for the SF-24 to optimize the qualifying session. Things went less well for Carlos Sainz, who couldn’t find the right confidence with the car, struggled with the tires, and had to settle for fifth place, even behind the spirited Daniel Ricciardo in fourth in his Cash App RB car.

The race pace references are scarce. Looking at the data for the high fuel runs, it’s clear that the times cannot be taken too seriously, especially those of Red Bull. The performance difference is very marked for the Austrian cars. We also can’t draw precise conclusions for the rest of the competitors, considering the different work programs, fuel loads, and tires used. All we can do is wait and see what happens during the F1 Sprint to gather real insights.

With ten laps to go, Charles Leclerc is asked to pay particular attention to the acceleration phase in turn 12, with the goal of not overheating the tires too much. The good news for the red team is that car number 16 is performing better than Sergio Perez’s Red Bull. That said, it’s worth mentioning a fact. Just like in qualifying, Max Verstappen complains on the radio about the Medium tires, with which he cannot find the maximum potential. This is why the gap to Charles Leclerc remains at about two seconds.

Carefully observing the onboard of the Italian cars, we can say that overall, the handling is undoubtedly very good. We only notice a slight oversteer in high-speed sections with load-bearing turns. Undoubtedly, the second sector of the Miami track, in the slower and more technical sections, remains the major limitation of the SF-24 single-seater. On lap 15, Carlos Sainz is still stuck behind Daniel Ricciardo’s exhaust without being able to make a passing move. In this case, although the Spaniard’s pace is undoubtedly better, the lackluster straight-line speed of car number 55, as opposed to the excellent speed of the Cash App RB car, made the Ferrari driver’s race a “nightmare.”

As we can see from the footage from the Ferrari car, Carlos Sainz, despite being extremely close to the former Red Bull driver in the corners, loses traction and can’t get close enough even with the drag reduction system open. The mini-race thus slips by without much excitement. Everything remains unchanged with Charles Leclerc confirming the second place, finishing behind Max Verstappen with a total gap just over three seconds. Carlos Sainz has to settle once again for fifth place. Unfortunate for Spaniard who suffers from being blocked by Daniel Ricciardo.