Recurring Ferrari SF24 issue that costs Carlos Sainz pole position to George Russell in F1 Las Vegas GP. Where Carlos Sainz lost pole position to George Russell in Las Vegas.

In the 22nd qualifying session of the 2024 Formula 1 championship, Scuderia Ferrari continued the work with the soft compound that began during the final free practice session at the 6.2-kilometre Las Vegas Strip Circuit in Nevada without making significant setup changes. The low-drag rear wing, which is the specification previously seen in the Italian Grand Prix at the Monza circuit was confirmed, while both SF-24 cars ran the standard floor specification, without the updated edge details. From a handling perspective, there was a general excess of rotation, with balance shifting noticeably toward the rear at lower speeds.

This characteristic caused slight understeer on corner entry in certain areas, such as Turn 7. Ferrari focused extensively on tire preparation, which required considerable work even during the qualifying session itself. The Maranello team frequently communicated with the drivers via radio, suggesting techniques like weaving on straights to create a thermal cycle that could generate sufficient temperature in the front tires at the start of a lap. Maintaining this temperature was also crucial, as the long straights caused it to drop below the target range.

This issue, particularly on the tire tread, was closely monitored, with the team aiming to utilize a degree of understeer to heat the tire surface. Ultimately, this influenced the strategy for hot laps. The main question was whether to include an additional preparation lap beyond the out-lap. In Q3, Ferrari opted not to perform a preparation lap, unlike Red Bull, as we will see later. Meanwhile, Mercedes got their tire warm-up strategy spot on, thanks also to the characteristics of the W15 car in low temperature conditions. By achieving better balance, they managed to operate their car within the optimal performance window.

This outcome was something the Maranello team had struggled with in recent races. With track temperatures at 13.5°C and ambient temperatures around 12°C, unusually cold conditions for Formula 1, the W15 single-seater proved particularly effective. This car naturally overheats its rear tires and generates significant friction on the tire surface. Like Ferrari, Mercedes employed weaving during the warm-up lap but avoided a prep lap. However, with a more advanced balance, they were less affected by understeer in low- and medium-speed sections.

Optimal tire management allowed the Brackley team to excel in the first sector, a major weakness for Ferrari, which then had to recover lost time in the remainder of the Las Vegas lap. This points to a recurring issue with the SF-24 car, namely insufficient front tire temperature at the start of the lap. George Russell gained significantly in Turns 2, 3, and 4, primarily due to better-prepared tires that provided higher grip levels. McLaren, on the other hand, struggled not only in the initial part of the circuit but also continued losing time between Turns 5 and 9.

Only in Turn 5 did it lose almost two-tenths, losing an equal amount in the low-speed section between Turns 7 and 9. After this section, the gap remained virtually constant. Compared to Ferrari, the main limitation remains the straights, where they are unable to gain on Mercedes. At low speeds, they could have extracted more from the car and the Soft tire. On corner entry, both MCL38 cars lacked significant grip, losing valuable time. Finally, Red Bull faced significant difficulties here in Las Vegas.

Max Verstappen secured a fifth-place finish, salvaging the result, while Sergio Perez was once again eliminated in Q1. The work done by the Austrian team on the rear wing made headlines: the Red Bull engineers used a Dremel to cut the trailing edge of the additional flap, further reducing the wing’s chord, realizing that the one prepared for Las Vegas was not sufficiently low-drag. This modification improved the top speed but did not yield significant benefits over the lap, especially in terms of traction. From this, we can draw a conclusion.

In percentage terms, 50% of the difficulties can be attributed to setup, which did not fully resolve the issues on the straights or improve traction. The other 50% is due to tire warm-up. Probably, in terms of mechanical setup, Red Bull had to compromise on suspension stiffness to try to put energy into the tires, especially the front ones. These temperature issues on the front axle have emerged in the past, even when the Milton Keynes team was dominant.

Finally, we take a look at the telemetry data and if we observe the ideal times of the main teams, we see that almost all drivers set their best lap in Q3 except for Lewis Hamilton. The seven-time Formula 1 world champion and future Ferrari driver, in fact, failed to put together a clean lap due to his own mistake. Without this error, his W15, number 44, could have reached third place, behind Carlos Sainz. The Ferrari driver was just one and a half-tenths behind, with all of it accumulated in the opening sector.