If you look at the standings, the first figure that catches your attention is the gap, that is, over four tenths from the top. An important figure, that somehow the drivers had suggested could be the real comparison with reality, with those three/four tenths missing that the Prancing Horse was not able to fill with the latest innovations, which among other things triggered bouncing in the high-speed curves.
Frederic Vasseur did not hide the fact that McLaren’s gap remains significant, but at the same time he wanted to underline how managing the qualifying was anything but simple, especially due to the changeable weather which forced the team to constantly have one eye on the radar and the other pointed at the sky.
“It wasn’t an easy session, but I think it was complex for everyone. Probably a little less so for McLaren, who did a great job and deserved the front row. We did free practice with the track at 60°C and in qualifying it was twenty degrees less and it wasn’t easy to manage. But McLaren did a great job,” explained the Team Principal of the Reds to Sky Sport, underlining the drop in temperatures over the weekend. In reality, only the FP1 session was affected by such high temperatures, while those already from FP2 began to drop.
Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-24
Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images
Today saw the coolest temperatures of the weekend, reaching almost 30°C, with a further drop compared to both FP2 and FP3 in the morning. For this reason, it was not easy for the teams to manage this continuous change in temperatures, which were also quite significant, but in fact the final standings still speak for themselves.
Likewise, the internal comparison also saw Sainz prevail over his teammate, even though in the first attempt, in reality, it was Leclerc who had temporarily placed his SF-24 in front. In this case, the Monegasque suffered from the fact of not having a second set of new tyres available, used to overcome the previous heats, thus paying the price when looking for the decisive time.
Vasseur explained that there is not a big difference in set-up between the two, but also, at the same time, the Monegasque suffered from yesterday’s mistake in turn four, when he crashed and lost a large part of the second session: “They are very close in terms of set-up with both cars and I don’t think that made the difference. Of course the style of the drivers requires adjustments, but I think it was Charles’s mistake yesterday that forced him to have to chase from this morning”.
Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-24
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
The mistake in FP2 forced him to skip the long-distance tests with more fuel on board and it is precisely on this issue that Vasseur focused his attention, although he also wanted to underline how the higher temperatures forecast for tomorrow could play in favour of the Prancing Horse, perhaps creating more degradation. The Hungaroring is often a severe track on rear tyre wear and Vasseur believes that this could be a terrain on which the SF-24 can play its cards.
“I think the temperature should be higher and we will have to try to manage. It is more of an opportunity for us, because I think with higher degradation there will be an opportunity to overtake and recover. But let’s see tomorrow, because yesterday with Charles we didn’t do the simulation and with Carlos we only did a stint. But since the beginning of the season we have been doing well from that point of view”.
Finally, a reference was also made to the bouncing issue. Here in Budapest, the Reds introduced a new package of innovations to cure the bouncing seen on the fast corners of the last three Grands Prix. Vasseur believes that bouncing is now under control, which is why Ferrari must focus on developments by trying to increase aerodynamic load, in order to get closer to McLaren and Red Bull: “At least we have fixed a lot of the bouncing, it is becoming easier for the drivers to manage the car and feel confident. We are in better conditions than last weekend at Silverstone. Now we must push more on development, also increasing aerodynamic load”.
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