Scuderia Ferrari concluded the 2024 Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix weekend by confirming the difficulties seen this season in wet track conditions. Carlos Sainz crashed into the wall twice after a race spent consistently at the back, while Charles Leclerc, on the other hand, only managed to bring out the performance of his car in the final part of the Sao Paulo race, when, with a drier track, he was able to get more temperature into the tires. Max Verstappen rose from the ashes, returning to victory after 10 races, thanks to a comeback from the 16th position to claim an impressive win at the 4.309-kilometre Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace in Brazil.
By winning the 21st round of the 2024 Formula 1 campaign, the world champion reinforced his leadership in the championship, confirming his status as the best driver in the wet. It was a great race for both Alpine cars, with a double podium crucial for salvaging a season that had been negative so far. In the first part of the race, the focus was on managing tire wear for two main reasons. One was to extend the first stint as much as possible, given the limited number of new wet tires available after qualifying. The second was to avoid excessive wear on the tread pattern and maintain grip in case the rain intensified.
Max Verstappen showed the best pace, even though he was not the fastest in the first part of the race. The world champion was the only one able to make overtakes, moving up from the back of the pack to sixth place within 10 laps. Charles Leclerc found himself behind Esteban Ocon and Yuki Tsunoda, without the pace to overtake them, also due to turbulent airflow. The Monegasque driver was averaging 4 tenths slower than George Russell, the race leader. Despite having a better End of Straight Speed before turn one and higher speed on the final straight, the Ferrari driver was not close enough to attempt a daring move.
Furthermore, throughout the race, car number 16 lacked tire temperature, which caused it to lose ground in the middle sector. Based on the telemetry data collected from the Brazilian Grand Prix, during the first stint, Charles Leclerc was losing over 2 tenths to George Russell in the middle sector of the track. The most problematic corners were the low-speed 8-9-10 sequence, where the lack of temperature prevented the SF-24 single-seater from having good rotation and traction. The Mercedes driver found himself leading the race after overtaking Lando Norris at the start and, setting his own pace, opened a 2-second gap over the McLaren driver in the first laps.
George Russell maintained this lead almost unchanged throughout the first stint, despite the fact that Lando Norris seemed stronger when the rain intensified. The setup of the McLaren MCL38 provided the British driver with excellent mechanical grip in the slower section of the Interlagos track, where he carried more speed through the middle of the corner than George Russell. The British Mercedes driver was more conservative under braking, prioritizing traction on corner exit. Additionally, the W15 single-seater maximized aerodynamic downforce better, gaining significantly in the medium-speed sections.
Overall, Max Verstappen was 0.5 seconds faster than everyone, while the Ferrari SF-24 car found performance only at the end of the race. The second part of the Brazilian Grand Prix was repeatedly interrupted by red flags and Safety Cars. The Monegasque driver was the first to pit, attempting an undercut on Esteban Ocon and Yuki Tsunoda in front of him. The choice unfortunately did not pay off, as the Ferrari driver, after rejoining in traffic, lost the position to Max Verstappen. A stop was almost mandatory due to tire wear. Both Ferrari cars struggled to get the tires up to temperature and doing the math, we can say that Charles Leclerc was losing about 8 tenths on average to the Red Bull RB20 of Max Verstappen, as the Maranello team’s car was constantly facing issues with rear-end management.
Only in the final part of the race, with a drier track, did the tires enter a decent operating window. This allowed the only remaining Ferrari in the race to open a gap to the McLaren cars and keep them behind, limiting the damage in terms of points lost this weekend in the battle for the 2024 Formula 1 World Constructors’ Championship. After the red flag, Esteban Ocon held off and slightly distanced Max Verstappen. However, the Formula 1 world champion analyzed the Frenchman’s driving style, taking the lead after the final Safety Car at the right moment. The pace of the Dutch driver in the closing stages was a show of strength in the wet.
The world champion took advantage of a well-balanced Red Bull RB20 car that responded seamlessly to his inputs, while Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly finished on the podium, making the most of an unusual weekend for Formula 1. The French team chose not to pit before the red flag, thus finding themselves in the top positions. McLaren, after an excellent performance in the qualifying session, suffered from an unfortunate race and timing that was often off. Lando Norris’s mistake after the second Safety Car caused the Woking cars to finish behind Charles Leclerc.
The performance of the McLaren MCL38 car seemed very inconsistent. In the dry, it carried a lot of speed through the medium-speed corners with excellent traction, as Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri managed to maximize the output of a stiffer setup designed to stabilize the car in wide-radius corners. However, in wet track conditions as was the case on Sunday afternoon, this choice cost them, as they were forced to delay braking points to make up for the lost ground in acceleration. Additionally, they lacked speed in the medium-speed corners, where, as we can see by analyzing the telemetry data from the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, they had a pace similar to that of Ferrari.
— see video above —
Leave a Reply