Mexico GP FP3: Ferrari SF-24 struggles with instability in S2 corners
Yesterday at 05:04 PM
A daring Ferrari took to the Mexican Grand Prix for F1's 20th round of 2024. The team is trying to position itself for another victory, aiming to replicate last week’s success in Texas. This is a well-balanced car, responsive to setup adjustments, which, as always, aim for the best possible compromise to optimize performance. It remains to be seen whether further modifications will be made to improve performance in qualifying, as pointed out by Frederic Vasseur and echoed by the drivers.
The opportunity to reinforce the superiority shown in the United States is at hand. Success here would be welcome news, especially since Ferrari hasn’t introduced any updates for the Mexican Grand Prix, apart from a hood modification specifically adapted for race weekend. Otherwise, it's the same SF-24 that dominated on Sunday afternoon, leaving no chance for rivals. Ferrari has worked hard on this, aiming to improve its mindset—a useful shift to deliver the best possible version of itself consistently.
So far, the Italian car setup has aimed for excellence in the first and third sectors, while working toward acceptable times in S2. This part of the track, from turn 7 to turn 11, includes fast, successive corners where performance has not yet matched Red Bull and McLaren. Yesterday, the prototype Pirelli tires were in play, making precise conclusions difficult. Shortly, in the third free practice session, we'll get a clearer picture to help envision Ferrari's setup for qualifying.
F1, Mexico GP 2024 FP3: Ferrari is very quick on Softs, but S2 remains problematic
As usual, both Ferraris underwent routine checks on the power unit, transmission, hybrid system, and brakes. Afterward, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz got into their cars and, in communication with the engineers, finalized details for the crucial FP3. Weather and reference conditions: air temperature at 18.5 °C, track temperature at 34.2 °C, humidity at 54%, and wind speed at 2.1 km/h from the northwest.
Ferrari waited, remaining in the garage after ten minutes had passed. Temperatures are lower, and judging by the radio feedback from other drivers on track, grip levels appear low, especially affecting F1 car rear ends. Finally, the Italian cars emerge. For their first run, both are on a set of Soft Pirellis. Leclerc has to lift off at turn 4 after locking the front tires due to the wind—or so the team radio suggests.
Charles tries again on the next lap; although not very precise in S2 and slightly wide entering the stadium, he sets a good lap time. Carlos does slightly better. Bryan Bozzi advises Charles to improve in the stadium, at turns 13 and 14, where he made a minor error. Charles Leclerc acknowledges, declines a front-end load adjustment, and listens to advice on brake balance to improve corner entry. Carlos also receives instructions to improve his performance.
After two cool-down laps, they try again with maximum internal combustion power on Engine 1. Charles is slightly unlucky in S2 due to traffic. Both drivers have to ease off for a yellow flag in the third sector. Discussions follow on the radio to identify areas for improvement. After another two cooling laps, they analyze telemetry to address minor errors. At this point, we can evaluate Ferrari's handling.
With the extra grip of the Softs, despite the track seeming slower than yesterday, the Italian car is noticeably well-balanced, handling the T1 curbs without issue. We're still waiting for S2 performance to show its full potential, as Ferrari seems to struggle there compared to the rest of the track. T3 also looks strong, with the car rotating properly and the rear responding well during acceleration phases, when drivers go full throttle to unleash all the power of the 066/12 power unit.
F1, Mexico GP 2024 FP3: Ferrari fine-tunes setup for qualifying
Charles returns to the track after a brief pause. As he gets going, he radios, "I like this." We don't know what he's referring to, as Bozzi doesn't reply, only gives traffic updates. Charles Leclerc warms up his tires—again on used Softs—and goes for his first push attempt. However, he makes another error in the stadium, so he heads back to the pits before rejoining the track. Meanwhile, he asks about his performance through the "esses," turns 6-7-8-9. Bryan compliments him on the handling, which is better than in the previous run.
Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz also heads out and, like his teammate, after completing a heat cycle on used Softs, goes into push mode. Both drivers improve their times, even with used tires. After a short break, they're back on track, this time on new Softs. The two Ferraris navigate traffic to find a clean run. McLaren and Red Bull also start pushing in S2.
As previously indicated, Ferrari is struggling with some instability in this part of the track. This issue was anticipated, and unfortunately, it has appeared. Alex Albon‘s Williams is performing on par with Ferrari in S2. Ferrari now faces the challenge of finding a solution to this, which could significantly affect its potential in qualifying. Perhaps an adjustment is on the cards, though it would be done blindly and wouldn't be reversible once under parc fermé.
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