The second and final day of Pirelli testing for Ferrari at Mugello. Today, the Prancing Horse team fielded Carlos Sainz on the SF-24 for the development of the 2025 tires from the Milanese sole supplier. The Spaniard completed the planned program by the Bicocca technicians, completing 135 laps, equivalent to 707 km, which is more than two GPs.
The Madrid native reacquainted himself with the Tuscan track, where no GP has been held since 2020, collaborating in defining compounds and constructions better suited to limit the overheating phenomenon on the tires that F1 will adopt next year under regulations that are not set to change.
“First of all, I want to thank Scuderia Ferrari HP once again for the cooperation provided in this test,” commented Mario Isola, Director of Pirelli Motorsport. “We are in a very intense phase of the season and having their support again with the presence of the two main drivers represents an important commitment. For us, these were two very profitable days on a beautiful track like Mugello, a very challenging test bed for the tires, given its configuration with many fast and long corners: the ideal scenario to experiment with harder compound solutions.
“The data collected in these 1,337 kilometers covered here are very interesting and will allow us to begin narrowing down the most effective solutions, so we can finalize the choices over the coming months. Now our test program will continue to take advantage of the opportunity to run on tracks used in Grand Prix races in the days following the events: we will indeed test at Silverstone right after the British Grand Prix and then at Spa after the Belgian Grand Prix.”
The two days of testing at the Scarperia track were very useful for Pirelli, but they were also beneficial for Scuderia Ferrari after the disappointing Canadian trip, which ended with a double retirement and zero points for the championship standings.
Mugello, in fact, has characteristics similar to those that Ferrari will encounter in Barcelona: besides a long straight, the Prancing Horse’s facility features all types of corners that we will see at Montmelò (long and very fast bends like the Arrabbiata corners combined with chicane-like sections). The two days near Florence could have been just what was needed to boost the morale of a team that experienced a “cold shower” on Notre Dame Island after Charles Leclerc’s victory in Monte Carlo.
Sainz found the sky slightly overcast in the morning, but then a hot sun emerged, while Leclerc yesterday had to deal with some showers that allowed for work on the wet intermediate tires.
Also on track today was an F1-75 assigned to Oliver Bearman. The young Englishman, in addition to staying in training to contribute to the development of the SF-24 in the simulator, can count on Ferrari’s support ahead of his next FP1 session with Haas, which is scheduled for next week at the Spanish GP.
Ollie, with the American team, has six Friday sessions planned in preparation for his move to a main driver in 2025: he has already run at Imola with the VF-24, and in addition to Catalunya, he will be active at Silverstone, Hungaroring, Mexico City, and Abu Dhabi.
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