What Ferrari’s pace in Barcelona says about the Formula 1 team’s current form and why team boss Frederic Vasseur is not panicking
Red Bull, McLaren, Mercedes and then Ferrari: the traditional Italian Formula 1 team was only fourth in terms of qualifying and race results at the 2024 Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona. So does team boss Frederic Vasseur need to worry about the rest of the season?
He himself waves it off and says in his media round after the tenth Grand Prix of the year that nothing decisive has actually changed: “Since Shanghai, four teams are within two or three tenths of each other. The order has changed because four different teams have had pole position on four recent weekends.”
In addition, Ferrari has not changed the SF-24 “significantly”, which is why he attributes the current fluctuation in form to the special characteristics of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and the conditions on site, such as the types of tires or the temperatures. “You can find yourself in a window of plus or minus one or two tenths,” says Vasseur.
To make matters worse in Barcelona, qualifying plays a key role in the outcome of the race. “It’s difficult to overtake, so at the end of the race you have almost the same result as in qualifying,” says Vasseur. Postscript: “I’m sure that if we start from P3 and P4, the result at the end would look completely different.” However, Ferrari finished fifth and sixth.
For Vasseur, this means: “We didn’t make the best of it on Saturday.” In other words: Ferrari must get faster in qualifying if it wants to do better on tracks like Barcelona
Thousandths of a second behind in qualifying
However, the gap on one lap was in the thousandths: Charles Leclerc in fifth place was 0.028 seconds slower than Mercedes driver George Russell in P4, with Carlos Sainz a further 0.005 seconds behind in sixth place. That was “a gust of wind”, nothing more, says Ferrari team boss Vasseur. And: a snapshot.
In Monaco, for example, Mercedes were still well behind Ferrari. So to say that Ferrari has lost touch is not appropriate.
“Before we draw such conclusions, we have to stay calm. We have to look at it event by event, and next week we have a completely different format, on different tarmac, with different corners. That will paint a different picture again.” Because in Formula 1, “nothing is forever,” emphasizes Vasseur.
Where Ferrari’s weak points were in Barcelona
So what does Ferrari take away from Barcelona? According to Vasseur, the task is to take another close look at the tire usage of the SF-24. “I don’t want to go into too much detail and give away too much information, but it’s about using the potential of the tires over the whole lap in different corners.” Ferrari “missed something” in qualifying at least, says Vasseur.
Then he gives details of Ferrari’s form when he says: “We don’t lose a hundredth of a second per corner in Barcelona, but twice a tenth of a second per lap. The rest is a copy of what Lando [Norris in the McLaren] did.”
This assessment is in line with F1 Tempo’s data analysis when comparing the fastest qualifying laps of Norris and Leclerc. Finding: Ferrari mainly loses the time in question in Turns 5 and 10, both of which are driven through at just under 100 km/h.
Where does Ferrari stand at the Red Bull Ring?
There are also corners in a similar speed range at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. Nevertheless, Vasseur is “not sure if there is a clear order” in the Formula 1 field. “But we’ll see next week.”
In general, the balance of power in Formula 1 is subject to certain fluctuations. The current order, for example, only lasts “until the next update or until we have a slow corner or until Silverstone, where we have to deal with fast corners,” says Vasseur. “When you have four teams within two tenths, it’s more about the characteristics of the car than pure potential. “
How the latest Ferrari updates have impacted
And Ferrari tried to build on this potential in Barcelona with an extensive technical update. With what success? “We are satisfied with the figures,” says Team Principal Vasseur. “But firstly, everyone is improving and you don’t jump forward if you bring something with you, you tend to fall back if you don’t have anything. “
However, Vasseur explains that the Formula 1 development race should not focus on external aspects. “We are not just developing the aerodynamics. And sometimes we need one or two events to get the best out of a package.” Ferrari will therefore be able to “make better use” of the SF-24 in Austria, promises Vasseur.
The Ferrari as a street circuit specialist
He points to the 2023 Formula 1 season: “There it was often the case that the performance wasn’t there until the race weekend after the update. And that will continue until the end of the year.”
“But the updates are generally smaller now than they were two years ago. So performance is continuing to level out overall.” Big leaps have therefore become a rarity.
Could this mean that Ferrari is currently only capable of winning on certain circuits? Like in Monaco recently? That the SF-24 is a street circuit specialist and struggles elsewhere? Vasseur: “If we win in Baku, Singapore and Monaco, that’s not so bad. “
