What a ravishing Ferrari we’ve got seen currently. A Method 1 group that has slowly and progressively emerged from its technical deadlock, getting again on prime, as Flavio Briatore would say. Three wins within the final 5 races have actually not come by likelihood, and it might have been 4 if not for a misjudgment on the Baku Metropolis Circuit in Azerbaijan. And possibly even 5 if the Maranello group would have higher assessed tire activation throughout qualifying on the Singapore Grand Prix. In brief, a Ferrari on the offensive. The aim for this third and closing spherical of the triple-header stays the identical.
Ferrari is aiming for victory in the Brazilian Grand Prix, with a robust need to maintain the dream of the Constructors’ Championship alive. A fairly wasteful McLaren might nonetheless assist, because the group led by Andrea Stella can also be centered on the drivers’ championship battle with Lando Norris, whereas Oscar Piastri, the Australian, has appeared nearly like a shadow of himself because the Baku weekend. Repeating success in Method 1 is rarely simple, particularly with very decided rivals. Nonetheless, the historic Italian group is exhibiting nice dedication, and the worry of profitable appears to have left the group. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz are giving their all and elevating the Italian colours worldwide, as technical consciousness of its capabilities drives the SF-24 to new heights.
The 4.309-kilometre Interlagos circuit, formally often known as Autódromo José Carlos Tempo, is a historic and extremely technical monitor for Method 1. It unfolds in a mixture of lengthy straights with technical sectors, significantly the second, the place tight turns and chicanes demand a excessive degree of driving precision. Interlagos can also be well-known for its unpredictable climate, usually forcing groups to adapt the setup of the automotive. For Ferrari, at present in a really optimistic interval, this occasion represents one other likelihood to place the SF-24 to the take a look at on a monitor that rewards each prime pace and traction within the extra sluggish sections.
The Prancing Horse arrives in Brazil with a robust, well-balanced aerodynamic bundle, because of an working window extensive sufficient to adapt to totally different layouts on this 2024 Method 1 calendar. After current races, the Maranello group appears capable of finding a superb stability on every monitor, minimizing the weaknesses of its automotive whereas absolutely exploiting its strengths. Which means, not like in different Method 1 seasons, tracks with totally different traits not characterize an insurmountable impediment.
Because of this, Ferrari’s confidence in its capabilities may be very excessive in the intervening time. Final yr, the group selected a setup that favored prime pace, in an effort to acquire time within the sooner sections, particularly on the primary straight and the part resulting in turns 4 and 5. This yr, following final season’s development, the purple automotive will goal to optimize prime pace, because it did in Mexico, the place between Friday and Saturday they diminished aerodynamic load from the Monaco specification, shifting to a medium-high setup first seen on the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona.
For the Brazilian Grand Prix, it’s anticipated that the Italian group will go for an method much like final Sunday’s, specializing in a extra versatile specification appropriate for combined circuits. In 2023, it’s price recalling that Ferrari struggled in sluggish corners, significantly on the first chicane, at turns 4 and 5, resulting from an endemic lack of vertical load. Decreasing the trip heights had yielded good outcomes by way of qualifying efficiency, however this alternative in the end compromised total efficiency over the 300-kilometer race distance. This yr, nevertheless, the SF-24 automotive has proven higher stability at low speeds, in addition to agility on the curbs, that are additionally much less pronounced in Interlagos than in Mexico.
On the identical time, Ferrari has to give attention to the optimum tire administration in the course of the race. The Maranello group’s technicians and engineers have labored to construct a compromise favoring the slower sections, even when this implies sacrificing some efficiency in excessive downforce corners, like flip 12, the place in 2023 the Ferrari misplaced nearly a tenth and a half, which it then recovered with pace within the high-speed part resulting in the end line. In quick corners, the SF-24 will search a compromise with suspension stiffness. The goal is to handle aerodynamic load for the race, the place common speeds in quick sections lower together with the required downforce.
In qualifying, the Italian F1 group depends on the motive force’s sensitivity to handle the automotive’s rear, prioritizing prime pace. This alternative goals to create a automotive efficient over lengthy runs and suited to tire preservation in the course of the race. Interlagos is especially demanding on tire compounds, characterised by excessive degradation, a state of affairs that in 2023 pressured drivers to handle the compounds all through the race and considerably restrict efficiency. This yr, Ferrari goals to keep away from such problematic administration.
This can even be achieved with higher management over floor and carcass temperature. The SF-24 has proven enchancment on this space, mixed with a setup designed to maintain the tires in an optimum temperature window and keep away from compromising race tempo as final yr. Within the second sector, numerous sections place stress on the rear axle in traction, the place micro-slips should be prevented to ease tire administration. Ferrari begins off the Sao Paulo weekend assured, satisfied that it will probably combat for victory in Brazil.
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