An exciting qualification
The first qualifying of the 2024 Formula 1 season was exhilarating. The level of competition was confirmed to be very high, every detail makes the difference, especially on the flying lap, and, even if in the end it went to Max Verstappen, it wasn't a given. Indeed it was Charles Leclerc in Q2 to record an even better time than the Dutchman's pole lap in Q3, but the Monegasque was unable to repeat himself in the last fraction, having to settle for second place on the grid. Overall, however, it cannot be denied that the session gave truly positive feedback for the SF24, probably even exceeding expectations.
If the SF23 was characterized by a load shortage, from fragile, low-energy aerodynamics and unpredictable behavior bordering on unmanageable for the pilots, the SF24 demonstrated in qualifying that it had not only reduced the defects, but had even transformed the weaknesses into strengths . Ever since the tests we had the feeling that the Maranello team's single-seater really had a lot of aerodynamic downforce and the qualifying data confirm this, sweeping away any doubts. Performance in long, fast corners shows stable, high-energy aerodynamics, indirectly confirmed by the lower wind sensitivity demonstrated both this weekend and during testing.
The straight line speed is still good, in a mixture of good efficiency and good power supplied by the Power Unit. It is no coincidence that Leclerc recorded the best time of the day in Q2, with a lap that would have earned him pole position but which he was unable to repeat in Q3, mainly due to having lost pace with the new tire having to make the first run in the last fraction with used rubber (however understandable Ferrari's conservative choice in Q1 to use an additional set of tires to avoid risking elimination).
Everyone is running on the edge of still fragile balances
Before continuing with the specific analysis we would like to make a preliminary consideration. If in 2023 all the single-seaters were a sort of evolution of the concepts seen in the past season, 2024 instead saw notable technical revolutions on cars, both from an aerodynamic and mechanical point of view. Drivers and teams are therefore learning again to find the limit and, as always, the ideal operating window is always narrow and being able to hit it means obtaining a multiplier effect on performance. The decidedly colder air in Bahrain this weekend has further modified this aspect, forcing everyone to move on subtle balances, especially with gaps as measured as those we witnessed in this first official session. An example is Mercedes, where a change to the set-up requested by Hamilton put the seven-time world champion out of contention for the positions that count, while the right window hit by Russel in Q3 projected the young Briton into third position, after a Q1 and a not so brilliant Q2. Similarly, Leclerc and Sainz had really high moments, such as Sainz's Q1 lap or Leclerc's Q2 lap, but they were unable to find them again in Q3, due to these very subtle balances that are not easy to maintain. And in his own way, Max Verstappen also found pole, but he too struggled due to a certain lack of confidence that can still be seen from the Dutchman's data. There is therefore still great margin for growth for everyone, both from a technical point of view and from the point of view of pilot guidance.
Verstappen good in the slow, but not in the fast
Coming now to the data, we have analyzed the lap of the top 3 classified in qualifying and the results are quite clear. Max Verstappen builds his entire advantage in the first sector, between strong traction and excellent rotation of the car in the strait, a situation in which both Ferrari and Mercedes struggle significantly. In the 1-2-3 section of the curve, with also a change of direction at low speed, the SF24 showed a certain difficulty in rotating and being sufficiently reactive, accumulating around 1 and a half tenths of a lead in that specific section. Starting from turn 4, however, the music changes quite a bit. Leclerc finds speeds consistently higher than Verstappen in practically every corner, as well as demonstrating excellent confidence when braking, which yesterday appeared to be a critical point. The Monegasque is unable to find his best performance in the sections of Turn 8 and Turn 9-10, thus limiting the ground he is able to recover from Verstappen and remaining 2 tenths of a second from pole. Similarly, Russell leaves a long way at turn 10, and then gets closer in the last two turns, 14 and 15, and finishes in third place, a few hundredths behind Leclerc. Verstappen also benefited from Piastri's wake in the first sector, with a maximum speed of 322 km/h and a time gain quantifiable in just over a tenth, so half the overall advantage to obtain pole. In the end the three-time World Champion was the best at putting everything together just when it mattered most, but in terms of pure performance Red Bull is definitely closer than anyone feared.
Leclerc's best lap which was worth pole
For completeness, we also checked the data of Leclerc's best lap in Q2 (with a time that would have earned him pole position) against Verstappen's pole lap and the findings are decidedly clear: the RB20 number 1 takes off in the first sector, but from turn 4 onwards it's a real Ferrari-Leclerc solo who gain consistently in every curve of the track until the entire gap is eliminated. Overall, obviously the season is very long and a lot still needs to happen in terms of development and so on, but these very good fundamentals for Ferrari can only be good news for the fans of the red, considering then that on these specific fronts the Sakhir track tends not to exalt these qualities too much, which could become more marked in much more selective tracks.
Verstappen is the favorite on the pace, the real gap with Ferrari and Mercedes needs to be assessed
The unknown therefore remains race pace, which will unfold after the traffic lights have turned off. From the simulations, Max Verstappen remains the favorite, with at least 2 or 3 tenths ahead of everyone, but at this point it will be really interesting to see the behavior of Ferrari and Mercedes over the length of the race. In short, a season that at the beginning had led to fears of an even worse repeat than the previous one, begins under interesting auspices to say the least. We'll see if the race lives up to expectations.
#Telemetry #Qualifying #Bahrain #Turn #it39s #FerrariLeclerc #solo
