2024 Scuderia Ferrari F1 Team

[deadhead]

The issues Leclerc had this WE:

- Struggled to warm up the tyres both in quali and in the race
- Lack of consistent balance for the entire race which is probably RB biggest strength in this ruleset
- In general, lack of pure performance compared to RB

The first two can be improved with more know how of the car and setup work. Third will require performance upgrades.

Yes, how are RB able to have almost perfect balance regardless of how much fuel they've got in the car...

Let's see how tire warmup goes once we race on warmer asphalt

[Xyz22]

The issues Leclerc had this WE:

- Struggled to warm up the tyres both in quali and in the race
- Lack of consistent balance for the entire race which is probably RB biggest strength in this ruleset
- In general, lack of pure performance compared to RB

The first two can be improved with more know how of the car and setup work. Third will require performance upgrades.

Yes, how are RB able to have almost perfect balance regardless of how much fuel they've got in the car...

Let's see how tire warmup goes once we race on warmer asphalt

I have no idea tbh. Not even the F2002 was so consistent.

[SoulPancake13]

I think overall 0.2-0.3 gap in pure performance after losing a year of development isn't bad at all.

I think the Ferrari engineers get very little credit for doing such an amazing job. We are currently clear of all the other teams with a car that has clear strengths with fixable weaknesses. Last year, we brought 0 pure performance upgrades, just upgrades to understand how to make the car more stable. Now, we can focus on adding the performance necessary to fight forwards and it seems that is the goal

[Xyz22]

I think overall 0.2-0.3 gap in pure performance after losing a year of development isn't bad at all.

I think the Ferrari engineers get very little credit for doing such an amazing job. We are currently clear of all the other teams with a car that has clear strengths with fixable weaknesses. Last year, we brought 0 pure performance upgrades, just upgrades to understand how to make the car more stable. Now, we can focus on adding the performance necessary to fight forwards and it seems that is the goal

I agree.
However they must not make the mistake of adding performance without thinking about the balance and consistency of the car in race trim. It's quite easy to "lose" the plot with these ground effect cars.

[SoulPancake13]

I think overall 0.2-0.3 gap in pure performance after losing a year of development isn't bad at all.

I think the Ferrari engineers get very little credit for doing such an amazing job. We are currently clear of all the other teams with a car that has clear strengths with fixable weaknesses. Last year, we brought 0 pure performance upgrades, just upgrades to understand how to make the car more stable. Now, we can focus on adding the performance necessary to fight forwards and it seems that is the goal

I agree.
However they must not make the mistake of adding performance without thinking about the balance and consistency of the car in race trim. It's quite easy to "lose" the plot with these ground effect cars.

Totally with you. We need to learn the lessons from the France floor in 2022... I feel that floor was underrated in terms of the negative impact it had on that car.

[Vanja #66]

I would say traction zones not low speed, since we can generally keep up on th brakes & through mid corner in slow speed but pretty much lose all of it on exit. Ferrari & Aston Martin are the closest in the traction zoens but still not very often able to beat a Red Bull.

And I personally feel you'll have this confirmed in Australia.

BAHRAIN TURN 1
https://ibb.co/71Pw1YW

BAHRAIN TURN 8
https://imgbb.com/

JEDDAH TURN 1-2
https://ibb.co/hDyrTHB

The hallmark of better traction is being on the throttle early. In Bahrain T1-2-3 Max wasn't any earlier on throttle than Leclerc, but he basically dumped the bulk of his 4MJ on the acceleration to T4. You can open the image in another tab and zoom in to see the differences and similarities.



In 2022 Leclerc was slightly earlier on the throttle in T1 exit and notably earlier in T8 and T9 exits - yellow rectangles. You can see his PU is deploying more out of those 2 corners - green diamonds, he's gaining slightly quicker there than Max.

Move to 2024 and Max gained 2 tenths vs Leclerc's Q2 lap in T1-T4 section. They are on the throttle at the same time. Even though Max reaches 95-100% throttle quicker than Leclerc in T1, T8 and T9, Leclerc is still gaining in T8 and T9. Max only had better apex speed in T1, which may have been a bit of an outlier for Ferrari and/or setup compromise. So I don't see better traction, I see them being about equal on traction and Leclerc was tiny bit faster in medium- and high-speed corners.

Bahrain is bumpy (and so is Melbourne) so I think RB lost more from their floor performance with suspension/ride height combo than Ferrari. We could see Ferrari was still slightly better overall in Jeddah corners, but you'd expect them to be a lot better there with bigger wing and I think RB was able to run as low as possible on the perfect Jeddah asphalt and made up a lot of their smaller wing downforce handicap.

[dialtone]

Australia will be a very interesting test for knowing the car setup windows. It’s a fairly balanced track with a very front limited S3 and that T9-10 that benefit fast corner performance, plus it’s not very flat.

Going to be interesting to see the setup in such a tricky track, one of the hardest to setup in the season.

[Vinlarr89]

I feel that this car is in a far better place to develop than Ferrari cars of the past decade. So much easier to develop the car when you’re not fighting it eating tyres for fun.

As much as there’s a clear need to develop as not only RB but the teams behind will bring upgrades. They shouldn’t rush them for upgrades sake. Get them right and make sure they develop the car in a clear direction.

Side note. The suspension must be good, even HAAS look decent in race trim!

[Seanspeed]

Ferrari needs to fastrack upgrades. Like get tall the upgrades till summer 2025 by race 15 this year. RB are going to bring big upgrades to imola and beyond. Else Ferrari will always find themselves 4/5 tenths behind.

I'd rather they just take their time and make sure they've got the best understanding of things and their development map. Catching Red Bull this year is a pipe dream. I'm not saying to give up on it, it's always good to aim high, but it would be silly to rush things like we're in some genuine title contending position.

[scuderiabrandon]

For Australia I'd expect them to run exactly the same rear wing beam wing as they did in Jeddah.

It's a bit more suited with the addition of more low speed corners. The single element beam wing reduced the drag for straights

[DoctorRadio]

For Australia I'd expect them to run exactly the same rear wing beam wing as they did in Jeddah.

It's a bit more suited with the addition of more low speed corners. The single element beam wing reduced the drag for straights

If it’s true that at Jeddah Ferrari raised the car to soften the settings and had to use a higher downforce rear wing as a consequence, it should go towards them that also Red Bull will have to raise theirs as, differently from Jeddah, the track surface isn’t very smooth.

[dia6olo]

I feel that this car is in a far better place to develop than Ferrari cars of the past decade. So much easier to develop the car when you’re not fighting it eating tyres for fun.

As much as there’s a clear need to develop as not only RB but the teams behind will bring upgrades. They shouldn’t rush them for upgrades sake. Get them right and make sure they develop the car in a clear direction.

Side note. The suspension must be good, even HAAS look decent in race trim!

I agree.
I prefer they take their time, properly learn the cars strengths and weaknesses in order to maximise the upgrades when they arrive.
Hopefully as the season progresses they will be able to trouble Red Bull a little.
Regardless, I think right now it's probably more important they think about were they want to be in relation to Red Bull towards the back end of the season not were they are after 3/5/7 races...

[TeamKoolGreen]

Please, stop this hype regarding Oliver Bergman. It was just P7, P11 in quali, that does not make him new Schumaher. Please move on. Well done by but only P7 with second fastest car on the grid. He was never even close to match or beeing close to Leckler.

Ollie has won the hearts of Ferrari fans and such opportunity doesn't come by easily. He has a future in F1.

Well now they have to wait at least 2 years before they can see him in a Ferrari. Will Bearman wait 2 years when other opportunities arise ? Doubtful

[TeamKoolGreen]

Please, stop this hype regarding Oliver Bergman. It was just P7, P11 in quali, that does not make him new Schumaher. Please move on. Well done by but only P7 with second fastest car on the grid. He was never even close to match or beeing close to Leckler.

And here I thought it was just me. Maybe because I have been watching F1 long enough to have seen the truly special debuts, that Bearman doesn't blow me away.

He managed a good race, and salvaged decent points with 7th for the WCC, but this car is comfortably 2nd best behind the RB20.

"truly special debut", like who?

George Russell Sakhir 2020

[SoulPancake13]

And here I thought it was just me. Maybe because I have been watching F1 long enough to have seen the truly special debuts, that Bearman doesn't blow me away.

He managed a good race, and salvaged decent points with 7th for the WCC, but this car is comfortably 2nd best behind the RB20.

"truly special debut", like who?

George Russell Sakhir 2020

You mean the guy who had been racing in F1 for basically two years at that point?