Ferrari carried out poorly within the qualifying session for the 2024 Formulation 1 Singapore Grand Prix: Carlos Sainz crashed firstly of Q3, whereas Charles Leclerc had no time resulting from an error in flip 1. This was undoubtedly the worst technique to method tomorrow’s race. It’s an actual disgrace as a result of the Ferrari automobiles had confirmed good general steadiness, which impressed confidence, particularly for the Monegasque driver. The dealing with tends in direction of oversteer, which, whereas inflicting some small points, helps rotation in the midst of the nook. The important thing to benefiting from this setup is rigorously managing the floor temperature of the rear tires.
To do that, one should keep away from extreme wheel spin throughout acceleration or corrections when exiting corners. Only a few levels of distinction can result in overheating, decreasing the obtainable grip of the compound. Within the final observe periods, Ferrari was far behind McLaren, having adopted a special technique for warm-up, attempting to create a special hysteresis course of. The purpose was to reach within the third sector with the rear compounds below the utmost temperature restrict. Nonetheless, within the remaining part of the monitor, they usually misplaced time resulting from extreme overheating of the rear.
Shifting on to qualifying, over the last try in Q3, there was plenty of confusion at Ferrari, particularly concerning driver administration. Carlos Sainz hit the boundaries, whereas his Maranello teammate needed to be the final to finish his lap. The Monegasque reported that he left the pits with a big temperature deficit on the entrance. We’re speaking about about 10°C, which is appreciable. This shortfall is attributed to the staff, which didn’t warmth the tires correctly within the blankets. The tires misplaced additional levels in the course of the pit cease earlier than heading out.
As soon as on monitor, in an try to boost the entrance temperatures, overheating took maintain of the rear. Subsequently, the lap started with thermal imbalance. Within the first nook, Charles Leclerc made a mistake whereas attempting to hold extra velocity by way of the middle of the nook, however the tires clearly didn’t reply as anticipated. In the course of the lap, though there have been no main errors, Charles was unable to maximise grip because of the worsening imbalance. One of many recognized limitations is the habits of the Ferrari on curbs, the place McLaren has a transparent benefit.
The British automotive can nearly totally exploit the within curb, sustaining a greater racing line for the following part. Ferrari drivers, then again, couldn’t use it an excessive amount of with out risking destabilizing the automotive, a transparent profit for the MCL38. The English automotive has glorious steadiness between the 2 axles and, particularly, very stable traction that made a distinction. At that time, the proper administration of warm-up technique and tire compound in the course of the dry lap turns into essential. Lando Norris delivered a superb efficiency.
Conversely, Oscar Piastri slipped again barely within the final Q3 try, whereas Max Verstappen unexpectedly improved considerably. Yesterday, Pink Bull confronted a number of points, even radically altering the setup, as they struggled to search out the optimum working window for the RB20 on bumpy tracks. As an alternative of chasing their rivals, they opted for a extra normal setup, growing stiffness to decrease the ground and maximize aerodynamic grip. This transfer didn’t assist the Dutch driver a lot in reaching his purpose as we speak.
Mercedes additionally achieved an sudden consequence after struggling in the course of the remaining qualifying phases of the season. At present’s qualifying was closely influenced by tire administration, as we understood, and the ultimate standings primarily trusted how every staff managed the compounds. The nice and cozy-up cycle and correct execution of warm-up have been decisive in extracting most efficiency because of the stage of grip achieved.
Within the final try, each Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen managed to get the pink tires working higher, sustaining temperature in all 4 corners of the automotive for longer throughout their quick laps. Piastri had a entrance row in his sights however couldn’t put collectively all of the sectors. Charles Leclerc might have completed in sixth place with out the error in flip 1, however there was positively potential to intention for the entrance whereas maximizing tire use.
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