Ferrari is doing what it may within the last Dash Race of the 2024 F1 season. The primary sentence of the article highlights the need for the Scuderia to restrict the harm. That is what the historic Italian crew was pressured to do resulting from a disappointing qualifying session that didn’t enable the 2 SF-24 vehicles to goal for the highest positions. McLaren secures a one-two end that nearly secures the world championship. Sure, as a result of the 15 factors earned by Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri surpass the fourth and fifth positions of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc. A six-point hole that will increase the gap between the 2 groups to 30 factors.
The battle stays open, no less than in line with arithmetic. Nevertheless, the hole that Ferrari faces with simply two races remaining, contemplating that considered one of them is right here in Qatar, the place the MCL38s are favored, doesn’t depart the Maranello crew overly assured. Then again, if Ferrari makes errors and fails to handle the tires, the efficiency will inevitably undergo. Fortuitously, within the hours main as much as the second qualifying session of the race weekend, the Maranello crew has the chance to work on the automotive and alter issues.
The aim is to fine-tune the setup of the Maranello F1 vehicles to extract most efficiency by tire administration. On the finish of yesterday’s qualifying session, a dejected Carlos Sainz remarked over the radio that the problems confronted should function a lesson to keep away from making the identical mistake in the present day. That is what Ferrari hopes for, as they need to goal to complete within the prime positions and, consequently, attempt to scale back McLaren’s result in maintain their World Championship dream alive.
F1, Dash Race Qatar: Ferrari limits the harm, Charles Leclerc suffers energy unit points
Carlos Sainz begins fourth and finishes fourth. His race was lackluster, with no notable moments through the 19 laps accomplished. The Spaniard tries to look on the brilliant aspect. As reported by our editorial crew, he agrees that the SF-24 doesn’t have any main stability points. Because of this, he hopes that small changes and higher tire administration can present the additional efficiency wanted to struggle on the entrance. He has clear concepts concerning the Dash Race.
The primary few laps have been spent warming up the tires. The very quick formation lap didn’t assist a lot. Carlos spoke of poor grip firstly and difficulties in Flip 1, the place he practically misplaced management of his automotive. In line with the longer term Williams driver, regardless of following George Russell for the whole race, the British driver had higher tempo. This was his feeling. For Charles Leclerc, there have been extra dramatic moments. At first, he misplaced his place to Lewis Hamilton, who handed him by making the most of Sainz’s unintentional block. It was an actual battle.
The Monegasque additionally mentioned the tires, that everlasting unknown. Charles Leclerc made it clear that Ferrari understands the route to take, though he isn’t positive if all the issues associated to tire activation might be resolved. He’s definitely conscious that they should give their greatest, because the beginning place for tomorrow’s F1 race might be essential for the end result. The final subject of the article issues the ability unit concern. The Monegasque driver himself doesn’t pay an excessive amount of consideration to the previous engine, claiming that the high-mileage engine won’t make a destructive distinction.
Nevertheless, we should report a reality: there might be an influence unit alert. After setting the quickest lap of the race on lap 18 with a time of 1:23.923, Bryan Bozzi, Charles Leclerc’s observe engineer, rapidly communicated over the radio for his driver to verify the weird numbers on the steering wheel of automotive quantity 16. These values possible referred to the automotive’s energy unit, which, as we all know, is nearing the top of its lifespan. That is confirmed by the telemetry.
The purple line represents the quickest lap (18), whereas the white line corresponds to the final lap (19). We are able to clearly see that Charles Leclerc needed to carry out massive raise & coast maneuvers in each nook: in Flip 1, he lifted off the throttle about 100 meters earlier than the braking level, utilizing engine braking; in Flip 4, one other 50 meters earlier; within the lengthy corners, which till that time he had taken flat out, we discover that he fully lifted off the throttle and used greater gears to decrease the RPMs, permitting the engine to “breathe.”