Ferrari is combating for the F1 Constructors’ Championship, a two-way battle with McLaren. With two Grands Prix remaining within the season, together with a Dash Race in Qatar—a circuit that might show difficult for the Scuderia—the crew should regroup and place itself to carry out at its finest. This can be a dedication they owe to themselves and their followers. The title has been absent for the reason that 2008 season, when the mixed factors of Massa and Raikkonen surpassed these of Kovalainen and Hamilton.
Ferrari just isn’t experiencing a straightforward second. The present driver pairing, which has labored properly over 4 years, appears to be nearing its finish. Rumors counsel that they not tolerate one another and that their relationship has reached all-time low. Over time, misunderstandings have occurred, however disputes have at all times been resolved internally, leaving no important aftermath. Sainz will depart the crew on the finish of the yr, making manner for seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.
Subsequent yr, Sainz will take the wheel of Williams, a crew experiencing important progress however nonetheless removed from the highest. For that reason, regardless of his professionalism, Carlos is racing for Ferrari but additionally for himself. And there may be nothing fallacious with that, let’s be clear. Right this moment, to ease the strain, we analyze a state of affairs involving tire administration throughout the third stint of the race—a aggressive state of affairs the place the 2 SF-24s delivered their finest efficiency.
F1, Las Vegas GP: Ferrari and the activation of the Onerous tire with the SF-24
After the race, it was defined how Ferrari “understood” solely throughout the remaining stint the best way to handle the compounds successfully. This enables us to elucidate how the Italian crew reached this understanding concerning the Onerous compound and what was virtually essential to optimize so-called “tire administration.” Let’s start with lap 28, the final lap earlier than Carlos Sainz’s second pit cease, the place the Spaniard was making ready to change to a second set of white-banded Pirellis—a compound that carried out considerably higher on the SF-24 in comparison with the Mediums.
We observe the dashboard format, faithfully reproduced based mostly on Ferrari’s steering wheel. Along with the varied sections of the primary window, our main curiosity lies within the 4 bins surrounding the phrase GEAR (gear). Inside these rectangles are numbers indicating the temperature delta of every tire, each entrance and rear, relative to the goal set by the crew. This gives concrete information on how far every tire is from the optimum temperature outlined by the crew. It’s essential to notice that every crew could have barely completely different targets based mostly on their expertise with the automobile.
Towards the top of the second stint on the Onerous tires, Sainz enters the pit lane with the entrance left tire displaying an in-line studying, because the distinction from the goal is zero (“0”). In the meantime, the entrance proper tire is 3°C under the optimum temperature. This means that the tire is colder, with a smaller portion of the tread deforming and struggling to generate warmth. The rear axle, however, is 3°C above the goal for each tires. Sainz then switches to the second set of white-banded Pirellis. In the beginning of the stint, the temperatures are properly under the best vary.
The picture above serves as proof. Within the tire blankets, as per the rules established by the Worldwide Federation, the utmost temperature can’t exceed 70°C. Moreover, when the tires are eliminated and positioned by the mechanics on the mat in entrance of the storage, ready for the automobile to reach, the tires naturally lose a few of the temperature beforehand attained because of ambient circumstances. Moreover, touring by way of the pit lane at decreased pace—60 km/h within the 2024 season—causes the tires to chill additional.
When an F1 automobile leaves the pit lane and begins pushing, the temperature throughout the 4 tires will be thought of comparatively homogeneous. The truth is, we see that Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari No. 55 reveals values roughly 30°C under the “ultimate” goal on each axles. It must be specified that this refers back to the “floor temperature,” which means the tread, and never the interior carcass values, that are additionally monitored through particular sensors. Trying on the subsequent picture, we are able to confirm the info on the finish of the outlap.
On the finish of the primary lap after rejoining the monitor following the tire change, the state of affairs is as displayed on the dashboard above. We’re at lap 30. Whereas the temperatures start to rise, they continue to be removed from the best values wanted to correctly exploit the tires. The front-right tire is the closest to the required worth, as it’s the most confused among the many 4, given the circuit’s format. The Spaniard performs a single “introduction,” a transfer that barely delays activation however ensures the estimated helpful lifetime of the tire.
For that reason, he tries to be cautious throughout acceleration phases, because the entrance axle is less complicated to convey to temperature. The pit wall, through race engineer Riccardo Adami, units a lap time goal of 37.5 seconds. Nonetheless, it’s famous that the Ferrari driver finally ends up barely quicker than required, decreasing the lap time by about two-tenths in comparison with the goal set by the pit wall, which is intently linked to the distant storage offering all the mandatory information to judge each issue and carry out successfully.
Trying on the subsequent picture, we discover improved temperatures within the subsequent lap. Essentially the most difficult operation entails activating the front-left tire, which stays persistently colder than the proper tire on the identical axle. Sainz and Adami due to this fact agree to attenuate the steering angle in sluggish corners to assist heat up your entire entrance finish of the Ferrari, as was finished final season. This system just isn’t simple to execute however proves extremely efficient, concurrently avoiding extreme stress on the rear tires.
To keep up management of the rear finish, Sainz employs “energy administration” in particular corners, comparable to Flip 6, aiming to protect the entrance from graining. Graining happens when the entrance tires are too chilly and slide excessively, making a layer of abraded rubber on the tread’s floor, decreasing total grip. To stop this, the entrance axle should be saved as shut as doable to the best temperature. The aim is to stabilize the temperatures across the goal worth.
By lap 32, Sainz has skillfully introduced all 4 tires as much as temperature in a gradual and simulated method. This method not solely extends tire life but additionally stabilizes the floor temperature, permitting the tires to realize optimum grip. Within the chilly circumstances of Las Vegas, the compounds have a tendency to chill, shedding as much as 4–5°C on the straights. The front-left tire has almost the identical temperature because the rear tires, which avoids activation asynchrony, a frequent subject in tire administration.
Shifting to lap 40, close to the top of the stint, Riccardo Adami radios in to congratulate Sainz. He commends the Spaniard’s efficiency, which was considerably higher than throughout the second stint, the place tire administration was removed from ultimate. Moreover, the Italian race engineer advises in opposition to reaching the tires’ saturation level in Flip 7, a measure meant to stop overheating.
Contemplating the format of the nook, a medium-speed left-hander, the Ferrari’s technique, developed with the pit wall, aimed to scale back the SF-24’s pace on entry. The reason being easy: to keep away from including extreme temperature to the front-right tire, which, on this case, is the outer tire.
Certainly, the front-right compound was already 4°C above the goal temperature, whereas the front-left was virtually at its ultimate worth. Demanding an excessive amount of from the Italian F1 automobile in Flip 7 would have overheated the tire and, as a consequence, created a temperature delta resulting in asynchrony. This may have compromised tire administration. Related measures had been taken in Flip 10 for a similar cause.
By lap 41, the ultimate reference level, the front-left tire was progressively warming, whereas the rear finish was now 7–9°C above the goal temperature. Sainz gave his most, and with this Ferrari, he might do no extra. Though issues undoubtedly improved throughout the third a part of the race, the entrance finish ultimately cooled once more, leading to a stage of grip inadequate to get rid of understeer completely.
General, the Scuderia did not handle its tires as successfully as Mercedes. Within the third stint, Lewis Hamilton’s tempo was superior, permitting him to cross the end line 4.5 seconds forward of Sainz’s automobile. Ferrari was missing a couple of tenth per lap even throughout the race. The Brackley vehicles excelled at rapidly discovering and stabilizing temperatures and demonstrated an unmatched potential to delay the onset of tire graining in comparison with all different groups.
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