Ferrari continues to be restricted by the traits already highlighted yesterday. The brand new ground has been confirmed, because it delivered the anticipated surplus in downforce factors. Even with the introduction of this element, we nonetheless noticed the dearth of rotation that significantly limits the SF-25 single-seater.
Charles Leclerc is best capable of handle this automotive, doing so by means of his driving expertise and a sure stage of expertise gained with the Italian crew. The distinction could be very clear when observing the second Q3 try on the 5.412-kilometre Bahrain Worldwide Circuit in Sakhir. The Ferrari doesn’t encourage the boldness Lewis Hamilton wants, and the Briton is due to this fact far more conservative within the snake part of the second sector. Charles Leclerc lifts off much less and seeks extra mid-corner velocity, however the rear doesn’t maintain.
Exactly for the time being of peak load, the SF-25 was typically seen shedding the rear for transient instants. The drivers are thus pressured to open up the steering to attempt to neutralize the oversteer. The identical was taking place in FP3. For that reason, our evaluation leads us to imagine that the automotive continues to be pressured to run barely greater journey heights than desired.
Even in high-speed sections, there’s some understeer, which then turns into oversteer on nook exit. This additionally signifies a warmer rear finish within the closing a part of the lap. Total, Ferrari struggles to hit the apex, and Charles Leclerc is objectively driving nicely past the capabilities of his automotive. McLaren is sort of good on this regard, and even Mercedes seems far more secure.
Nevertheless, the Monegasque has confirmed that he has taken a path that convinces him, after current race weekends the place they used excessive setups to attempt to ‘cowl’ all areas of the observe. After all, there’s nonetheless a giant hole to McLaren, so the state of affairs can’t but be mentioned to have improved. Nonetheless, we had anticipated that Bahrain might provide extra alternatives to the Maranello crew.
McLaren: good rear-end thermal administration
It was already clear within the early races and confirmed within the strategy to this weekend: the MCL39 single-seater is the most effective at managing the tyres. On a rear-limited circuit like this one, it’s essential to optimize the thermal administration of the tyres. Yesterday, we supplied exact details about what was taking place with the Ferrari SF-25.
In distinction, McLaren drivers handle to achieve the ultimate sector with the rears much less overheated. Tyre efficiency is straight linked to its temperature. We’re speaking about roughly 4–5 levels celsius much less on the rear tyres at Flip 11. A concrete benefit, which stems from the quantity of power utilized to the tyre. Sometimes, the MCL39 places in a decrease quantity of power, which is why we believed it might carry out nicely.
This trait is shared with the Mercedes W16, which heats the tyres a lot lower than final yr. Whereas within the 2024 Method 1 season they carried out nicely on cooler tracks, this yr they’ve labored exhausting to curb overheating in each method, particularly superficial overheating.
Crimson Bull: flawed stability and brief shifting to keep away from wheelspin
Quite the opposite, it’s Crimson Bull that’s battling excessive temperatures, which they feared coming into Bahrain. The Chinese language and Japanese Grand Prix, with milder temperatures, helped handle tyre warmth all through the lap. There was numerous normal instability, and thus little usable grip on the RB21.
Particularly, the primary limitation was understeer, probably because of a setup aiming for a extra rearward stability to enhance traction. A purpose that was solely partially met, as even in Flip 1 Max Verstappen needed to brief shift to keep away from spinning the rear wheels. This implies he was shifting up shortly, with out pushing the gears too far, exactly to keep away from overstressing the rear finish.
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