The first points of the 21st Formula 1 weekend were up for grabs today at the 4.309-kilometre Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace in Brazil in the Sao Paulo Sprint race, as Ferrari tackled the 100 kilometer mini-race aware that McLaren would be the clear favorite. The two British cars showed remarkable competitiveness yesterday during the Sprint qualifying session. However, it was hoped that race pace would be a different story. Even though it is a short stint where drivers push almost the entire time, tire management was once again a crucial factor to consider, especially given the demanding Interlagos track surface. But tire wear wasn’t the only element to take into account.
First of all, there was the start, where anything could happen, even though the finish line is quite close to turn 1. Additionally, the Brazilian track offers clear overtaking opportunities with DRS zones and a long high-speed section. Ferrari aimed to attack immediately, as keeping the Constructors’ Championship dream alive means trying to limit the points lost against the two MCL38 cars this weekend.
Now let’s take a detailed look at how events unfolded for Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz in the Sao Paulo Sprint race at the Interlagos circuit: Charles Leclerc starts from third, right behind the two papaya-colored cars, while Carlos Sainz, behind Max Verstappen, was hoping to outpace the three-time Formula 1 world champion.
The Prancing Horse has sought a setup that would favor race pace, partly sacrificing the single lap and thus the qualifying session. It was therefore be interesting to see if this clear strategy pays off and brings the expected benefits. Mistakes are not allowed, as even minor errors would heavily impact the outcome in this first competitive scenario where points are awarded. Ferrari believed it could challenge McLaren, but to reach the set goal, they had to flawlessly execute the planned strategy.
After the usual laps to test the cars with a certain amount of fuel on board, the F1 cars line up on the starting grid. Ferrari drivers climb into their SF-24 single-seaters after the mechanics have carried out the usual checks on the cars: power unit, transmission, braking system, and transmission. Before starting, let’s take a look at the weather and track conditions: air temperature at 28.3 degrees celsius, track temperature at 44.7 degrees celsius, humidity at 50%, and wind at 1.8 kilometers per hour from the northeast.
The two Ferrari SF-24 cars fire up their engines. Just moments before the start, they proceed with the installation lap. The tires chosen by the Maranello team are yellow-banded Pirellis. During the formation lap, the Ferrari cars push hard, trying to heat the tires as much as possible. Activation is not as reactive as McLaren and Red Bull’s. The clutch release is good for almost everyone, and nothing unusual happens at the start. In this initial phase, Max Verstappen is very aggressive and putting pressure on Charles Leclerc. Meanwhile, the two McLarens try to pull away, and Carlos Sainz attempts to stay close to Max Verstappen.
On lap number 5, finally, the tires on the red car seem to start performing at their best. For this reason, the Monegasque shakes off the pressure from the Dutchman. His Ferrari race engineer Bryan Bozzi asks to manage the compounds more in turn 7. Despite the few laps, the need to conserve the tires is apparent. Carlos Sainz is slower and unable to keep pace with the Red Bull driver, who, after two laps of stealth, now seems to be closing in on car number 16 again. In general, we can say that the handling of the SF-24 car is good, but the pace is not sufficient to attack the McLarens.
We are still witnessing a very competitive race because the pace at the front is quite similar. It would be important for Carlos Sainz to improve his lap times by a couple of tenths to get closer to the reigning world champion and put him under pressure. The Spaniard struggles especially in sector 2, in turns 8, 9, and 10, where he loses the most time. We are talking about 5 cars within just over 5 seconds. On the radio, there is always talk of tires. They need to be managed because the race is still long. Charles Leclerc struggles in turn 1 just as he did in qualifying. On lap 13, he makes a mistake but manages it.
Additionally, he is asked to perform lift and coast, but doing it comfortably with a Red Bull glued to his rear is practically impossible. Therefore, he does it in turn 6 and not on the starting line. Fortunately, the traction of the red car is really good and allows the Ferrari driver to gain a certain margin in acceleration for defense. However, this condition does not last long, as on lap 18, Max Verstappen overtakes him. Charles Leclerc is angry because lifting off before the corner costs him time. He then asks if he can stop lift and coast.
Unfortunately, the answer is no, as the red car has to do it to manage the temperatures, which would otherwise exceed the safety threshold. It is a real shame because as long as the need to cool the tires was not urgent, Charles Leclerc was in the slipstream of the McLaren MCL cars. Therefore, Charles Leclerc lifts off and records a slower lap to allow the tires to breathe, while Carlos Sainz closes in. On lap 22, the Virtual Safety Car comes into play, effectively putting an end to the race, as the cars only start pushing again when there’s one lap left.
In conclusion, we can say that the setup problems of the red car became evident in the Brazilian Sprint race, as the imperfect aerodynamic-mechanical compromise affected tire management. While the red car’s pace wasn’t bad at all, the imprecise aspects took them out of contention for the top positions. Charles Leclerc claims he pushed too hard at the start of the race, a factor that naturally did not help. Before the second qualifying session, there is time to modify the setup of the SF-24 and try to improve the balance of the two Ferraris.
— see video above —
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