Ferrari: Spa setup doesn't pay off and race pace is lacking | 2024 F1 Belgian GP telemetry data
07/29/2024 12:10 PM
Scuderia Ferrari started the Belgian Grand Prix from pole position but lost again. As expected, the 7.004-kilometre Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps track highlighted the issues of the SF-24 car. Mercedes wins, even with a one-two finish on track, before George Russell was disqualified after his Mercedes Formula 1 car was below the 798kg minimum weight. Oscar Piastri was therefore promoted to P2, while Charles Leclerc completed the podium for Ferrari, with his Maranello teammate Carlos Sainz in sixth.
Let’s start the analysis by talking about the available tires at the start. Obviously, all teams had several sets of Softs, as the qualifying session was held in the wet. Red Bull and Aston Martin were the only ones with one less set of Hards and one more set of Mediums.
We will see later that, in the case of the Milton Keynes team, this choice was the correct one. Charles Leclerc had an extra set of Medium tires which he did not use. For the start, most of the drivers preferred to start with the Medium compound, considering the Soft too soft. High degradation was expected, and the red-banded Pirelli risked struggling too much. In hindsight, someone could have used it in the final stint, but that did not happen.
In the first laps, it was immediately clear that Ferrari did not have the pace to maintain the first position with the medium tire and a full fuel load. Despite having good top speeds, Charles Leclerc could not counter Lewis Hamilton, who overtook him with the slipstream on the Kemmel straight. The goal for the Maranello team was to keep the medium compound alive as long as possible to manage the race in the long run. From the box, they told Charles to take care of the tires, avoiding some micro-lockups in the corners.
Lewis Hamilton had more pace in this phase of the race with the Soft tire but struggled to create a safe gap on Charles Leclerc. The track temperatures were around 43°C, but the W15 was in a good window, and the Mercedes driver managed to set good lap times. The rear was still the main limitation, but overall, the balance was good. They then planned a small change to the front wing incidence to help the rear. Max Verstappen was the first to pit, switching to Hard tires on lap 11. The following lap, both Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez pitted.
The British Mercedes driver pitted to mount the Hards to neutralize a potential undercut by Charles Leclerc, who at that moment was +2.1s ahead. The degradation level was less than expected. The track had some sections with new asphalt that rubbered in over the weekend, also thanks to the minor categories, but on Friday, it was still very green. The undercut was expected to be quite powerful, also considering that activating the hard tires did not require excessive work, given the circuit’s energy profile.
Sergio Perez pitted with Lewis Hamilton on lap 12, which worried the Ferrari pit wall. They had to cover the Mexican, who at that moment was 2.3 seconds behind the Ferrari driver, especially since he mounted the Medium tires for the second stint. The next lap, they pitted to cover Red Bull number 11, managing to maintain the position upon exiting the pit lane. Ferrari stuck to the original plan, switching from Medium to Hard. Red Bull executed everything very well, although Perez could not find an out-lap that would make the undercut on Charles Leclerc work.
The team mounted another set of Medium tires as they knew the second stop would be “mandatory.” They decided not to immediately clear the dual compound rule. Carlos Sainz had a very strong run on the Hards in the first stint, managing to extend the useful life of this tire by many laps. He was called to the pits on the twenty-first lap, where he mounted the Medium tires, an almost mandatory choice for the central stint. The Softs were too soft, and the Maranello technicians didn’t trust them. Furthermore, they would likely not have had good pace with the softest compound.
Ferrari once again worked much better with the Hard tire. The gap to Lewis Hamilton slightly narrowed and the Ferrari driver was able to stay more in his slipstream. Even in this phase, there were many recommendations from the box regarding the tires. Bryan Bozzi warned Charles Leclerc not to reach tire saturation in turn 18. Max Verstappen, on the other hand, experienced several issues with the harder compounds, similar to what happened in Hungary. The Dutchman complained of understeer especially in turn 13, which he mentioned multiple times.
He reported having many difficulties with the front tires during braking phases, where he lacked sufficient stability. The same problems as in other races, indicating that they still haven’t found a direction to solve them. Furthermore, it is worth noting that here the car was fitted with the older engine cover specification, effectively taking a step back on updates. Sergio Perez pitted again to get out of Oscar Piastri’s traffic, behind whom he was stuck. He re-entered on lap 22 to switch to the Hard compound, which would have to last for another 21 laps.
A feasible number considering that Carlos Sainz did 20 laps with the Hard and a full fuel load. In this case, Ferrari did not react immediately. There was no imminent danger and they extended the stint on the Hard which was working well. Looking at the telemetry data, it can be seen that the relative gap between Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc remained almost constant throughout the stint. Remembering the previous stint, Ferrari then slightly anticipated the pit stop to try the undercut on the seven-time Formula 1 world champion, or at least to get closer and reduce the gap with the early stop.
The Mercedes driver pitted the next lap to cover Ferrari’s strategy. The gap remained unchanged even after the stop, indicating Mercedes reacted well. Max Verstappen pitted on lap 29. The box ordered him to do the opposite of George Russell, to try to overtake him with an undercut or overcut.
The Dutchman obviously mounted the Medium tires for the last stint because they had suffered too much oversteer with the Hards. At that point, George Russell had two options: stop immediately or try to extend the stint. Since Max Verstappen was very fast in the out-lap, George Russell would surely have ended up behind if he stopped the next lap. Mercedes strategists then decided to follow the second tactic. This way, they could benefit from the last stint and possibly take advantage of any Safety Car or Virtual Safety Car that would save them a lot of time.
The riskiest idea was to aim to finish the race for Russell. He would have had to complete 34 laps on the Hards, which was very unlikely, even with a lighter car. Lando Norris stopped the lap after Max Verstappen’s pit stop and re-entered the track behind the Dutchman. McLaren had a lot of pace on Friday, both with the Medium and the Soft tires. On Sunday they failed to exploit the great potential they had and once again had to raise the white flag.
Lambiase tried to motivate Verstappen, who was 12 seconds from the lead. They told him to remain calm throughout the race, but at that point, there was nothing more to do and he ended up stuck behind Charles Leclerc. The choice to mount a higher downforce wing did not pay off at all. They thought they could recover positions on the grid even with this version, but it would have been more appropriate to use the specification with the cut trailing edge. A significant mistake by Red Bull that ruined the weekend. The higher downforce favored grip in the wet during qualifying, a session that doesn’t award points.
George Russell decided not to pit because he felt the feeling with the Hard tires was still very good. As the laps went by, the Englishman explained, the pace continued to improve, thus the idea of a single pit stop took shape. The lower degradation observed on track led all teams to reassess their strategies. This is also why very few attempted the single stop. Charles Leclerc was also overtaken by Oscar Piastri during the final stint on the Hard. Despite the low downforce setup, Ferrari did not top the speed trap leaderboard.
The setup’s goal was to have good top speeds but that was not achieved. The setup did not work as hoped and the pace continues to be lacking. In conclusion, we can say that Ferrari had a very competitive pace only in the middle stint on the Hard tire. There is a reason things worsened towards the end of the race for both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. This is because, with a lighter car, the speeds through the faster corners increase, leading to an increase in bouncing. Looking at the telemetry data and remembering the car’s lighter fuel load, it becomes evident.
Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari managed to stay on Oscar Piastri and Lewis Hamilton’s times only in the very early laps of the stint when the tire was still fresh and a bit more loaded. To be clear, Ferrari did not lose anything in the Belgian Grand Prix due to strategy. The truth, as Charles Leclerc explained, is always the same: lack of race pace. The pace is not on par with the work the other teams are doing. The causes are various: poor efficiency, suboptimal tire usage, and an off-target setup. Mercedes was unbeatable on Sunday. They have won three of the last four races.
On Friday, they had no balance and made several mechanical changes, as reported by the two drivers post-race. In fact, they had taken the wrong path with the suspensions. Overall, what is working right now, especially in the race, is the good balance between slow, medium, and fast corners. This is the most important consequence of the work done in recent months. It’s a shame about George Russell’s disqualification which effectively ruins the team’s weekend. From what we’ve learned, 1.5kg less on the W15 translates to about a three-second advantage over the race.
Lastly, let’s focus on the race pace throughout the Belgian Grand Prix, which allows us to confirm a few things. Lewis Hamilton dominates this ranking, but Oscar Piastri is less than a tenth behind. The Australian only came alive in the final stint when it was too late. McLaren literally threw away everything good they could have done over the weekend, both in Saturday’s qualifying and in the start of the race at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.
Source: FUnoanalisitecnica
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