Telemetry data: Ferrari fast in medium-speed corners, significant setup work needed at Red Bull

Scuderia Ferrari has adapted very well to the Imola track right from the start, a very positive sign indicating excellent work done with the driver-in-the-loop simulator in Maranello to prepare for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix weekend. Shortly after the first runs, Charles Leclerc informed his engineer that the car had already achieved proper balance and the amount of grip they were generating was satisfactory. From an aerodynamic standpoint, the Monegasque driver never requested a change in the angle of the front wing, indicating that the level of downforce generated at the front, chosen via software in recent weeks, was very good.

Ferrari continues to use the same rear wing specification, now updated at the wingtips. A rear vertical push not too high perhaps works better on this circuit, as it avoids unbalancing the front end. The Maranello team has tried to shift the mechanical balance towards the rear, obtaining good feedback. The front is very solid, so by moving the balance backward, the front tires still manage to generate sufficient grip. The most important note is that with this type of setup, the SF-24 EVO has not lost stability and balance. However, in terms of traction, the red car remains imperfect.

Observing the on-board footage, especially in turn 7, the car is not clean on exit and some minor steering corrections can be seen. This corner requires quite a bit of trail braking, thus a lot of transverse mechanical grip is needed. Other slow corners are less complex to handle for the SF-24. Perhaps this is among the few issues that can be identified today. It’s a very different story for Red Bull, which did not arrive at the first free practice session with a good initial setup. They chose to use the higher downforce wing, thereby moving the aerodynamic balance backward.

The main problem they encountered and which Max Verstappen complained about a lot is the lack of activation of the front tires. They simply can’t generate enough friction to reach the target temperature, at which point the compound pressures correspond to the desired levels. In FP1, we saw several understeer issues for the Dutchman. Overall, moving the mechanical balance backward resulted in a negative response from the car, with the front end losing useful grip. Specifically, the RB20 cars suffered from understeer between entry and mid-corner.

They first adjusted the front ride height along with the front anti-roll bar. This was a significant stiffness change, trying to soften the resistance to roll and consequently the effect of lateral load transfer when trying to turn the car. However, the two Red Bull cars continued to not provide positive feedback. Between the two practice sessions, the technicians again made some changes to the front end. The anti-roll bar plays a role in activating the compounds as it directly affects the weight each wheel receives.

Then, during the second free practice session for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, they modified the rear to improve the front end. Probably the front-end setup changes were not giving the feedback they expected. In the end, what the driver feels matters, and Max Verstappen reported over the radio losing balance when switching from the Medium to the Soft tire. Now, let’s try to specifically understand the strengths of each car.

We see that in the first sector, Red Bull is almost perfect and only loses a fraction of a second, although it loses quite a bit on the main straight compared to Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc. With a higher downforce wing, they struggle more on the straight, although we think today they kept the Power Unit mappings lower. In the first chicane, Max Verstappen manages to carry a lot of speed through the mid-corner, up to 5 kilometers per hour more. The higher downforce is especially noticeable in traction, from the apex of turn 3 onwards.

Show your support for Scuderia Ferrari with official merchandise collection! Click here to enter the F1 online Store and shop securely! And also get your F1 tickets for every race with VIP hospitality and unparalleled insider access. Click here for the best offers to support Charles and Lewis from the track!

Again, between turns 5 and 6, they carry a lot of speed into the apex of turn 6. We’re talking about 5 kilometers per hour more compared to Ferrari and 10 kilometers per hour more compared to McLaren. Here we should point out the direct comparison of the two configurations. In turn 7, as previously mentioned regarding Ferrari’s handling, Max Verstappen tends to reach the apex slightly earlier than the other two drivers to optimize the exit. Therefore, Ferrari carries more speed through the mid-corner, requiring more on entry (7 kilometers per hour more), but then loses in the traction phase.

The micro-sector telemetry data in this section is very segmented. Different interpretations bring the drivers very close together. After a few meters, McLaren tends to gain more. The Woking car is very fast on the straights, indicating high aerodynamic efficiency. In the second sector, Ferrari can still find a fraction of a second to improve. Lando Norris’ McLaren MCL38 is slightly more than a tenth faster in this section.

At turn 9, a lot of downforce is needed and the RB20 does not disappoint. However, in that section, the two cars are almost equal. The SF-24 is 3 kilometers per hour faster at the apex and overall gains half a tenth. At the 12-13 chicane, Ferrari gains a lot on entry and then manages to maintain the advantage on exit compared to Red Bull, which is not well-positioned to unleash the power of the Honda power unit and, consequently, cannot fully exploit the available downforce.

The Red Bull RB20 has room for significant improvement in this area to lower lap times. Max Verstappen did not optimize several areas of the track, whereas the Mexican driver performed better. Adding everything up, the ideal performance of the RB20 would be about 2-3 tenths behind Ferrari. The interpretation of the next chicane (14-15) is much better. The Ferrari handles the first curb excellently without getting unsettled. In traction, they recover ground, reestablishing the gap.

The world champion encountered several problems, trying to ‘play’ with the knobs on the steering wheel, while Sergio Perez handled it much better. Max Verstappen will need to study his teammate’s telemetry, although the Mexican finished behind him. The same goes for the last two corners of the track, where Max Verstappen experienced a lot of understeer. This worsens traction, which should be their strong point. McLaren is well-balanced and especially manages to use the tires well with these track temperatures. Among the three almost equal cars, tire management becomes the differentiating factor.

Ferrari tends to put less energy into the tires, helping to keep them in the correct window during the lap. McLaren has found a correct warm-up strategy for the soft tire. In the Miami Grand Prix, the soft tire, corresponding to the C4, was not usable for them. Here in Imola, where the soft tire is even softer (C5), and with a different layout, they manage to reach and maintain the target temperatures.

Taking the front pages and honors on the opening day of the weekend at Imola was Ferrari, which topped both Friday’s practice sessions. The track by the Santerno River is among the most complex in the world championship, as it is one of those circuits where it is crucial to find not only a good aerodynamic balance but also a mechanical one, because attacking the curbs in the ideal way here can make a difference.

What the first day of practice tells us is that, unlike other events in the championship, determining a clear favorite for the first European race of the season is extremely difficult. The updated Ferrari seems to have started off on the right foot, but McLaren also appears to have good potential, more than Friday’s standings might suggest.

More enthusiasm, however, comes from the Mercedes garage, which is cautiously trying to edge towards the top of the standings. However, it is not the first time in the last two years that the team from Brackley has finished the first day positively only to face greater difficulties for the rest of the weekend: even this season, there have been occasions where the W15’s behavior changed from one day to the next. Mercedes believes they have finally found a foundation to work on for the future thanks to the latest updates, but it will be crucial not only to understand the rivals’ step forward on Saturday but also to hit the setup window in which the car performs best.

After the run at Fiorano a week ago, the updated SF-24 made a good impression on a track that, at least on paper, should have been more suited to it, thanks to a good mix of medium-speed corners. And it is in those types of corners, like the “Piratella” or the “Villeneuve”, that Ferrari managed to build part of the performance that led it to finish on top on Friday, even though the best time was achieved on the second attempt on the same set.

Leclerc finished the second session at the top with about a tenth and a half ahead of the first McLaren, driven by Oscar Piastri, but the most interesting reference for the Woking team is not the Australian driver, but rather his teammate. The final standings see Lando Norris only in twelfth place, but in reality, the Briton could have finished the day on top if not for a mistake at Rivazza that then pushed him to return to the pits.

Observing the telemetry data, it is immediately noticeable that in the comparison lap with Norris and Piastri, the SF-24 tends to gain something on the main straight: a few hundredths that are more noticeable in acceleration than in top speed, where the performances balance out. Since FP1, however, Leclerc seems to have struggled with the first chicane, more related to his driving style than a specific problem with the Ferrari because, on the contrary, Sainz is very competitive in that section. The tendency is to see Leclerc very aggressive on entry, then struggling with the change of direction where attacking the curbs is necessary: in the morning, Sainz worked carefully to understand the ideal line and how much he could attack the curbs. For the Monegasque driver, it will be crucial to work overnight to find a good compromise, particularly because this also tends to affect the exit towards Villeneuve, one of the sections where the Ferrari performed well.

Since it is a medium-speed chicane sharper than the Tamburello, the SF-24 seems to have found a better balance compared to what McLaren put on track. However, if after the first chicane there is a longer straight to take advantage of a better exit, after Villeneuve the stretch towards Tosa is very short, so Ferrari’s advantage is much more limited.

At Piratella, the good performance of the Maranello car in medium-high speed corners emerges once again, with a significant advantage over both McLarens, including Oscar Piastri’s, as well as Mercedes, while the gap with Red Bull, which excels in these sections at Imola, narrows. Compared to the two MCL38s, as well as at Villeneuve, Leclerc manages to partially lift off the throttle without completely closing it, thus carrying more speed through the corner.

However, it is interesting to note how the situation changes significantly at the Variante Alta chicane, which is completely different from the previous sections. It is a very slow area where interpreting the curbs well is crucial: in this case, Leclerc does not seem to lose in the corner itself but rather on the exit, when it is necessary to put the power down and accelerate towards Rivazza. This difficulty was already noticeable in FP1, even compared to Sainz, and reappeared in FP2. Specifically, Leclerc experienced a slight oversteer that partially compromised his acceleration out of the corner, but it is also possible that he opted for a slightly stiffer setup considering the references for the rest of the lap.

In contrast, McLaren seems slightly more balanced, especially on the exit: as in other areas of the track, the advantage gained on the exit carries over to the next section at Rivazza, where Norris made a mistake. Without this slip-up, the Briton would probably have completed a lap that would have put him at the top of the day’s standings, so much so that in interviews, he highlighted being satisfied with the sensations in the car and the fact that only a few adjustments are needed since the baseline setup has already put the car in a good window.

Ferrari SF-24, Carlos Sainz