Scuderia Ferrari began with excessive hopes of recovering in opposition to McLaren within the penultimate spherical of the 2024 championship. In System 1, nothing could be taken as a right, and yesterday’s Qatar Grand Prix, if additional proof was wanted, underscored this emphatically. All of the main drivers began on the yellow tires, a transfer aimed toward facilitating tire administration within the first stint and increasing it as a lot as doable. The objective was certainly to make just one cease. Nevertheless, they knew how troublesome it will be to activate the compounds earlier than the beginning with solely a single preparation lap. On the first Security Automobile, nobody reacted, as anticipated.
Within the early laps, the highest three drivers pushed onerous, elevating the bar considerably. Max Verstappen was aiming to create a security hole, with Lando Norris instantly behind, making an attempt to remain inside 2 seconds of him. The Dutchman additionally centered on saving as a lot tire as doable, significantly conserving the medium compounds within the third sector, hoping to increase the stint. The Pink Bull pit wall knowledgeable him that he was saving greater than the 2 McLaren vehicles, prompting him to extend his tempo shortly after. In the course of the stint, he skilled slight understeer, much like what was seen on Saturday on the 5.419-kilometre Lusail Worldwide Circuit.
That’s the reason, within the second stint, he agreed to extend the entrance wing angle—first by one “click on,” then by two. Nonetheless, the dearth of rotation continued. On McLaren’s facet, the pit wall confirmed to Lando Norris that as much as lap 20, the tires had been performing as predicted through the weekend simulations. Thus, regardless of pushing onerous, the tires behaved as anticipated. This was totally different from Pink Bull’s description of Max Verstappen’s state of affairs. Round lap 21, the Dutchman started to cut back tire administration, following the pit wall’s orders.
Ferrari centered closely on managing all 4 tires lap by lap, working significantly on Flip 12, a nook thought-about strategic for tire administration. Their lap instances had been considerably slower than McLaren and Pink Bull, however they managed to deal with temperatures and common degradation effectively. The 2 Ferrari drivers stayed near Oscar Piastri’s McLaren MCL38, utilizing him as a strategic reference. Solely within the second a part of the stint, as could be noticed by analyzing the telemetry information, did Charles Leclerc handle to shut in on the Australian driver.
George Russell achieved some temperature stabilization through the stint, however slight oversteer contributed to better tire put on, compromising thermal efficiency. Lewis Hamilton, then again, skilled extra front-end graining attributable to a way more troublesome and unbalanced setup on automobile quantity 44. George Russell was the primary among the many main group to cease. The pit wall regularly requested updates on tire situation. Except one thing uncommon occurred, drivers responded by means of the steering wheel.
By lap 30, Ferrari’s tires had been in good situation and throughout the right working window. Consequently, they reported through radio that pressures had been aligned with optimum goal values. Additionally they knowledgeable the drivers they had been nonetheless on Plan A, seemingly a one-stop technique. The Medium compound confirmed a graining section that wanted to be halved to keep away from the drop-off section the place grip would diminish. With the Security Automobile deployed for particles on the monitor, the pit-stop window opened. Charles Leclerc modified tires, making the most of the state of affairs and passing Oscar Piastri, who had pitted the lap earlier than.
George Russell additionally struggled, having pitted even earlier, whereas practically everybody else halved their pit-stop time. In response to the groups’ information, the white-walled tire behaved equally to the Medium, besides through the activation section. Max Verstappen executed good work on the yellow-banded Pirelli tire. With the Exhausting tires within the second stint, fewer laps had been required in comparison with the Medium, making the one-stop technique preferrred for everybody. Nevertheless, this compound introduced some front-end points and was fairly susceptible to graining.
The Ferrari SF-24 single-seaters additionally struggled to seek out temperature, particularly earlier than the restart. The Maranello pit wall advised maximizing throttle wherever doable. They instructed to go full throttle to generate tire temperature. On the restart after the Security Automobile, Charles Leclerc was in bother, and Oscar Piastri was capable of assault him, however the Monegasque drove completely, managing to maintain him behind. The second Security Automobile additional difficult sustaining the goal on the tires, particularly on the fronts. The dashboard confirmed that temperatures had been effectively under the optimum degree.
Ferrari’s second restart was extra stable, nevertheless, with higher use of {the electrical} element, in keeping with the information from the telemetry evaluation. Lando Norris tried to problem Max Verstappen within the early laps however didn’t have his tires within the optimum working window, permitting the Dutchman to construct a niche fairly simply. The four-time System 1 world champion managed the graining section excellently, even within the first stint. Compliments got here from the Pink Bull group after analyzing the compound put on. The ten-second penalty for Lando Norris then fully compromised his race, leaving him on the again and offering the Maranello group with the nice alternative to get well a number of factors and take the battle for the Constructors’ Championship to the ultimate spherical of the 2024 System 1 marketing campaign, which is ready to happen subsequent weekend on the 5.281-kilometre Yas Marina Circuit on Yas Island.
Charles Leclerc’s Qatar Grand Prix was solely about defending in opposition to Oscar Piastri to keep up second place. Within the closing laps, Ferrari matched the Australian’s instances as much as the end line. From a strategic perspective, it was a comparatively simple race. The groups gave absolute precedence to tire administration, working by means of a number of distinct phases. The Italian facet approached each compounds effectively, and this alone made a distinction. Charles Leclerc by no means tried to intently observe Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, avoiding compromising the tire lifespan.
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