Bahrain F1 Test: Ferrari with suspension too stiff in race pace simulation
Today at 07:06 AM
Looking back on the second day of Formula 1 pre-season testing at the 5.412-kilometre Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Ferrari certainly tried to give its best, allowing for a clearer overall picture of long-run performance. On Thursday afternoon, the drivers completed an entire Grand Prix, eliminating any doubts about fuel loads and shifting the focus to the handling of the cars and engine power. Lando Norris, in the McLaren, was overall the fastest, showing an excellent pace with both C3 and C2 tires. The Englishman benefited from a more stable rear end, allowing him to get on the throttle earlier than his rivals and carry more speed down the straights.
Conversely, Ferrari once again struggled with an unstable rear end, preventing Charles Leclerc from extracting the maximum performance. Unlike in the fast-lap simulation, where the SF-25 seemed to have found a good overall balance, in long runs, the Maranello team still needs to refine the setup. Mercedes and Red Bull also carried out similar work to the first day, showing a good car even with the team's younger drivers, Kimi Antonelli and Liam Lawson. Let's analyze the work done by the various teams.
We consider the first stint of each driver, with a full fuel load, and the third and final stint, when the cars were lighter. With a full tank, Oliver Bearman was surprisingly the fastest, almost inadvertently revealing a likely untapped potential in the Ferrari. Lando Norris was the best among the top drivers, gaining slightly overall compared to Charles Leclerc, Kimi Antonelli, and Liam Lawson. The Monegasque driver opted for a more cautious approach at the start of the stint, achieving better time progression than the Englishman.
From the telemetry data related to degradation, it is also evident that both drivers experienced a drop in performance in the final laps due to some rear-end graining. According to telemetry data, the reigning champion car seems to behave better than the Ferrari in slow corners. The telemetry data considers the average speed at the center of slow, medium, and fast corners during the first stint. Lando Norris is on average 3 kilometers per hour faster than Charles Leclerc, who, due to the more unstable rear end, has to carry less speed through the middle of the corner.
Conversely, the Maranello car performs best where aerodynamic load plays a key role, thanks to a stiffer setup that enhances aerodynamic efficiency. Mercedes, with Kimi Antonelli, also recorded excellent speed benchmarks, revealing the most balanced car across all sections of the track. On the other hand, Liam Lawson seems unable to extract the maximum from the Red Bull RB21. The blue racing car is significantly behind its direct rivals, struggling considerably to carry speed through the middle of the corner.
The aerodynamic and mechanical problems are compounded by an alarm on reliability that emerged yesterday. The limit seems to again stem from the front suspension, which the engineers are focusing on. With a lighter fuel tank, McLaren has widened the gap over its rivals, improving both in corners and at the end of the straights. By combining telemetry data and tire degradation, it's clear that the Woking team has excellent tire management and used a more aggressive engine map.
From the data collected on Thursday, it is evident that Lando Norris is the only driver with negative degradation on hard tires. Thanks to the more stable rear end, the Bristol driver experienced less rear-end graining, utilizing an optimal amount of grip throughout the stint. On the other hand, Ferrari struggled to manage the extra energy being fed into the tires with a lighter fuel load. Charles Leclerc's car slid more in the slower corners, taking the tires out of their ideal operating window.
When analyzing the average speed throughout the entire corner, Ferrari's difficulties in turn 1 immediately stand out. From the moment braking begins until the drivers return to full throttle on the exit, Charles Leclerc lost about 15 kilometers per hour on average to Lando Norris, a huge gap. This difference is significantly reduced in the faster corners, once again indicating that the team focuses more on aerodynamic work than mechanical work in the slower sections.
Mercedes is also very stable in the faster sections of the circuit with a lighter fuel load. Moreover, as seen from the degradation data, Kimi Antonelli is good at tire management, with a relatively low lap time increase, excluding the two slowest laps. Finally, let's consider some references regarding corner exit traction and top speeds at the end of the straights. Lance Stroll is the best, maximizing the performance of a very soft car under acceleration. Ferrari, on the other hand, is among the slowest cars at corner exit, unable to optimize grip during acceleration.
Conversely, Mercedes and McLaren made use of a less stiff setup, allowing for better tire contact with the track surface. These two teams are the best in terms of speed at the end of the straight. Lando Norris was able to fully exploit the power unit’s push during the final stint. The Englishman, also thanks to better traction out of corners, carried about 6 kilometers per hour more than Charles Leclerc. This gap was smaller during the first stint, around 3 kilometers per hour, indicating how the reigning world champion team allowed the English driver more hybrid power.
During the second day of testing, Ferrari focused almost entirely on understanding how the aerodynamics work, with a fairly stiff setup. In the series of tests carried out, the Maranello engineers opted for a tuning that could stabilize the vehicle chassis, leaving something on the table in the slower sections. On Friday’s agenda, thanks to Lewis Hamilton's long run in the afternoon, attention was shifted to the slower areas with lower stiffness to get a complete picture of the SF-25 car's competitiveness.
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