2024 F1 Spanish GP: unexpressed potential for Ferrari SF-24; McLaren had pace to win

06/24/2024 08:52 AM

The Spanish Grand Prix, the tenth round of the 2024 Formula 1 championship, can be summed up as follows: Ferrari did not perform well, McLaren could have won, and Red Bull did win. Mercedes confirms its rise, although with a bit more luck and without the misunderstanding between Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz on lap two, the SF-24 number 16 could have beaten both Mercedes cars. It was therefore an undoubtedly interesting weekend at the 4.657-kilometre Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Max Verstappen confirms his impressive abilities to manage the race. A driver capable of adding a lot of his own, just look at the performance of his Red Bull teammate with the same car. But most importantly Lando Norris wasted another opportunity, while Oscar Piastri paid for the performance in the qualifying session and the Woking team for the fact that it is no longer used to fighting for the race win.

Lewis Hamilton, the "has-been," according to many, outperformed his Mercedes teammate and stepped onto the podium. A well-deserved third place for the seven-time Formula 1 world champion who, thanks to this result, shakes off some rust and silences many negative comments about him. George Russell once again proved his talent, but he showed that his maturation has not yet arrived. Then we have the two Ferrari cars. A weekend that started very badly, then was slightly corrected but not enough. The controversy over the touch between the two Ferrari drivers is pointless. Both said their piece, and that's fine.

The 2024 Formula 1 edition of the Spanish Grand Prix provided some insights. An F1 race that essentially shows two fundamental development keys: tire management, activation, and maintenance of the working range, and the timing of pit calls. Especially in the first stint of the race, the drivers had to manage the wear of the softest tire, which provided extra grip but was more sensitive to wear. A necessary measure considering the high abrasiveness and the track surface temperature always above 40 degrees.

F1, Spanish GP 1st stint: Russell blocks Norris. Ferrari good pace with a clear track

Max Verstappen was the fastest in the first stint of the Spanish Grand Prix, with degradation similar to that of Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton. The reigning world champion had an easier introduction of the compound, not finding himself forced to open the gap as the young Mercedes driver did. The Dutchman “easily” regained the positions lost at the start, with George Russell forced to raise his pace due to overheating tires, which also slowed down Lando Norris’s race.

Despite the possibility of using DRS, the McLaren driver was not able to overtake George Russell, leaving the potential of his car unexpressed. When the Mercedes W15 car pitted on the fourteenth lap, the McLaren driver began to recover positions against Max Verstappen. At Ferrari, the strategy diversification with Charles Leclerc seemed aimed at finishing the race with a single tire change. The radio conversation between the Monegasque driver and his engineer seemed to be based on finishing the race with just one stop, fitting the Hard compound for the final part.

Despite all these considerations made via radio, even the red number 16, with a clear track, was able to express its potential without too many problems. Around lap 15, Charles Leclerc lowered his pace by a second and consequently managed to exploit the stabilization phase of the compound very well. However, for more accurate information on this stint, it must be said that the Ferrari driver inevitably lost a lot of pace in the final laps of the first part of the race.

F1, Spanish GP 2nd stint: Leclerc faster with minimal degradation

In the second part of the race, Charles Leclerc also mounted the medium tires, which allowed him to maintain a similar average pace to Lando Norris and Max Verstappen. The driver from Monaco was surprised by the choice made in the pits, expecting the hard tires to try to finish the race. The pit wall, through race predictions, deemed it slower to finish the race with only one stop. For this reason, they reversed the communication given to the driver. This imperfect information forced Charles Leclerc into excessive management of the compounds, losing valuable time.

The degradation in the central section is very low. All the drivers were skilled in keeping the tires alive until the second stop. The differences in pace were defined by the management of the corners. Max Verstappen and Lando Norris have cars that suffer less in the traction exit phase, guaranteeing them a lower lap time at the end of the lap. Additionally, Lando was the only driver among the top teams to achieve negative degradation, allowing him to significantly increase his pace at the end of the stint to catch up with Max Verstappen.

The McLaren driver always pitted later than the world champion and current leader of the 2024 Formula 1 racing campaign. Six laps after the first stint and 3 to start the last section of the race. In the latter case, the indecision between finishing the race with a single stop or stopping to match the Dutchman’s strategy, mounting the soft tires, cost the Englishman about 2.5 seconds.

This imperfect timing probably prevented Lando Norris from competing for the win, despite having the better pace on used tires compared to Max Verstappen. Sunday’s second-place finisher showed greater degradation, but the pace imposed in the final laps allowed him to recover 6 seconds in the third stint. The two Mercedes drivers, able to confirm their starting positions at the end of the race, followed the pit wall in the position switch. Lewis Hamilton, in third place, took advantage of the Soft compound, which “lit up” more easily with a low fuel load.

George Russell and Carlos Sainz, the only two top drivers to mount the hard tires to finish the race, struggled to bring the compound into the correct temperature window. George Russell’s difficulty also helped Charles Leclerc, who, after overtaking his Maranello teammate, closed in on George’s fourth position but needed one more lap to be able to attempt an overtaking move on the Mercedes car. The just-concluded weekend at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona clarified the values in the field. McLaren is at Red Bull’s level, which managed to win thanks to a better driver and strategy.

What the Woking team probably lacks is the awareness of being able to constantly fight for victory, which might come in the upcoming Formula 1 world championship stages. Ferrari, on the other hand, still lacks in terms of pace and tire management, probably due to the limited knowledge of the new updates. The Maranello car has untapped potential, which could hopefully emerge on faster circuits like Austria, with the Red Bull Ring hosting the next round of the season in Spielberg.

Source: FUnoanalisitecnica

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