Scuderia Ferrari presented itself very well at the 5.807-kilometre Suzuka International Racing Course on Friday morning, with an SF-24 car that continues straight on its path. Unfortunately the second session of free practice for the Japanese Grand Prix was characterized by rain. Many teams hardly went out on the track considering that these weather conditions should not recur during the rest of the weekend. Additionally, all teams usually prefer to save wet tires in case the weather data for the upcoming days are in fact incorrect, as the weather forecast can quickly change in this region.
Following this consideration, attention must be paid to what was seen during the first free practice session regarding race pace, awaiting further data from tomorrow’s FP3 at the Suzuka circuit, which should take place in dry conditions. The simulation of this morning, in fact, must undoubtedly be taken with a lot of caution, as drivers and technicians need further information to validate the setup changes made between the two free practice sessions.
Therefore, the hour available to the teams on Saturday (hoping that the International Federation adds 30 extra minutes considering what we have seen) will be very intense and will be exploited as if it were an FP2 session. The commitment will therefore be maximum, both regarding the lap and the usual simulations with a high quantity of fuel, to test the cars in terms of race configuration. The weather forecasts should be favorable, and the engineers should therefore be able to collect a lot of useful data in view of qualifying session and Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix.
F1|Japan, Long Run Analysis: Ferrari faster than Verstappen. McLaren lighter on fuel
Going into detail on what was seen in the first free practice session, it seems that Ferrari has optimized the setup focusing mainly on race pace. The red cars have overall achieved better results on average compared to competitors, disregarding the time-related data concerning McLaren, given the fact that the Woking cars, most likely, simulated with a significantly lower amount of fuel. Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc even maintained a faster pace than Max Verstappen, with the Spaniard leaving the world champion nearly a second behind per lap. This of course should be evaluated with a caution, as the Red Bull RB20 of the Dutchman clearly ran with more fuel in FP1.
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Moving on to other teams, we notice a slower race pace for the two Mercedes drivers and Fernando Alonso. The two British F1 teams, at the moment, once again confirm a performance not up to the top teams, highlighting a lack of performance that does not give them great hope of fighting with Ferrari and Red Bull for a place on the Suzuka podium. The Brackley team fails to maximize the performance of their black and gray car with a lot of fuel, and it seems that, even this weekend, they have a not very wide working range window, despite the fact that the cooler temperatures should in theory help them.
George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, therefore, could have difficulties managing the tires over long stints in the race. Although it is still very early to give a proper judgment, and we have to wait for the last session before qualifying, it seems that the temperature of the rear tires tends to rise beyond the ideal operating range, causing some wear to the compounds as a result.
F1|Japan, Degradation Analysis: Ferrari negative degradation with the Hard. Mercedes loses 0.3’’ per lap
By analyzing the telemetry data concerning tire degradation, we can reinforce the consideration previously made. It can be noticed, in fact, how the dashed line relating to the performance of the seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton has one of the steepest slopes when compared to the other cars. In the 7 laps of simulation, the future Ferrari driver slowed down his overall pace by two seconds between the beginning and the end of the stint.
Looking at the data regarding George Russell’s performance, also with the red tire, it’s not so good either. The British driver shows even greater wear compared to his Mercedes teammate. This confirms that the W15 doesn’t seem to manage tire consumption very well and that the red-banded Pirelli tires, namely the C3 for this weekend, could be a solution to be discarded in the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday.
The McLaren drivers with medium tires (C2) have very similar and overall limited degradation. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri utilized a car lighter on fuel, knowing how to manage the performance well in corners where a lot of lateral stress is generated.
The two Ferrari drivers and Max Verstappen produce significantly less degradation, and considering the set of Soft tires mounted on Ferrari number 55 of Carlos Sainz, the Spaniard emerges as the most skilled driver in managing the tires. Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen seemed to manage the Hard compounds very well, showing quite similar performance, gaining time as the car became lighter with fuel load.
Overall, therefore, emphasizing once again that the data taken in the first free practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix should be considered as a first approach to which further references will be added, we can say that Scuderia Ferrari could have the chance to confirm the good performance shown in terms of race pace two weeks ago at the Albert Park circuit in Australia. These are still marginal references in view of this Japanese F1 weekend but they offer an initial indication and, once again, underline the SF-24’s ability to be ready as soon as it hits the track. All that remains is to wait for Saturday to learn more about the real potential of the teams at the Suzuka circuit.
Source: Alessandro Arcari and Leonardo Pasqual for FUnoanalisitecnica
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