F1 | Data: Ferrari the best compromise, Red Bull struggles on the bumps

It is a Ferrari that dreams, but with caution. The Monte Carlo weekend is always one of the most special and unpredictable events of the season, because the driver’s confidence in the vehicle can make the difference, sometimes even more than certain technical characteristics of the single-seater. However, Friday has already given some indication of what the themes of the rest of the weekend might be.

If we were to stop at the pure and simple story of the first day, the name that emerges would be Charles Leclerc, who left his mark in the second free practice session, the one in which he ran on the same tire as his direct opponents. In fact, in the morning, the Ferraris were one of the few teams not to try the softer compound, left aside for the afternoon.

Behind him is the man who won in the morning, Lewis Hamilton, with a Mercedes that seems to have found more lifeblood in Monaco, a unique track on the calendar. Both the Briton and his teammate, slowed down in the afternoon by a problem that caused strong vibrations, spoke with confidence towards Saturday aiming for the top 5, hoping that at least this time the Star will maintain a good level without sinking on Saturday. Red Bull and McLaren are further behind, but be careful not to underestimate Racing Bulls, who didn’t take advantage of the soft tires in FP2, running only on the hard and medium ones.

Leclerc the most effective, but we need to work on the soft

On both the medium and the soft, Leclerc established himself as a reference. The difference on the yellow band tire was even larger, almost a second, while it proved to be much less marked with the red band one, with a gap that was reduced to just under two tenths. The truth lies in the middle.

On the one hand, the Monegasque admitted that he took a few more risks than his opponents, but on the other hand it is also true that on the soft there is a need to work on the details. Going backwards, on several occasions the SF-24 has struggled to extract the full potential from the soft compound, especially when it comes to fighting for the last few hundredths. A theme that seems to have arisen again here in Monte Carlo.

Beyond this aspect, there is another element to underline, namely the fact that Leclerc still has some margin looking at the best sectors of the session. Being able to put together the perfect lap in Monte Carlo is extremely complex, but the Monegasque is the one who has the widest margin between the actual and ideal time, around three tenths. The example fits perfectly when looking at the references of the first sector: in his best lap Leclerc was less effective than Hamilton, but in reality even the Monegasque himself dropped more than two tenths from his own best time.

Telemetry comparison Leclerc – Hamilton FP2 Monaco 2024

Photo by: Gianluca D’Alessandro

Also for this reason the telemetry references do not tell the whole truth of this first day, but they still offer interesting insights. The SF-24, in the hands of the home idol, proved to be the car with the best compromise between the fastest and slowest areas. Performance in slow speeds is not enough, because the driver must also be guaranteed an effective car that gives confidence in the fastest areas, where the various depressions in the asphalt are often noticeable. Leclerc also worked on the trajectories, for example trying to progressively increase his aggressiveness when entering and going through Turn 5.

The main differences, however, were seen in the slow section, with an excellent combination between speed and traction phase, especially in the low-speed corners of the central sector and in the final part of the last split time. The final two corners are precisely where the advantage over the rivals widens, probably not only due to a question of the characteristics and effectiveness of the single-seater in terms of performance, but also due to the ability to keep a very sensitive C5 in the window for longer.

In the faster areas, however, good indications emerge, even if there are more effective teams, such as Red Bull in the medium-speed corners of the first sector, but which are unable to repeat themselves even in the slow one. McLaren also defends itself well in medium-high speed corners, and then presents weaknesses similar to those of the RB20 from a performance point of view, even if not in terms of behaviour. For Leclerc, it is worth mentioning the excellent insertion in the swimming pool chicane, where already in previous seasons he had demonstrated that he could make the difference by favoring the first part of the sequence with an aggressive entry.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Red Bull conservative, but suffers on the bumps

Mercedes placed itself as the second force of the day behind Ferrari, however, running with more aggressive mappings starting from FP1, as has become tradition for the Star powered teams in this championship. Undoubtedly it will be one of the cars from which we expect to understand if it will be able to maintain the pace, but on the first day the W15 seems to follow Ferrari’s idea of ​​”compromise”, with a car that does not excel, except for speed at the top, but which defends itself well in several sections.

Among the surprises is Aston Martin, which seems to have focused on a set-up based on slow sections, very soft, while maintaining good top speeds, even if the more aggressive mappings used tend to be on Fridays also emerge in this aspect. This is an interesting aspect, because during this season the AMR24 has made effectiveness with open DRS and increasing performance in the fast sections the key characteristics of effectiveness in qualifying, while here the situation seems reversed, perhaps to also give greater confidence in the drivers after the difficulties in Imola.

The one who seems to be in the most difficulty is Red Bull, which clearly shows what its areas of greatest difficulty are. At the end of free practice, Max Verstappen made no secret of the fact that the greatest critical issues arise when you have to deal with the dips in the asphalt which is undoubtedly not smooth. On a citizen it is normal to encounter bumps, as was the case in Singapore last year. Once again the RB20 seems to have to deal with a rigid set-up, designed to make the most of its aerodynamic platform, which does not go well with the bumpy terrain of the Principality.

Telemetry comparison Leclerc – Verstappen FP2 Monaco 2024

Photo by: Gianluca D’Alessandro

In general, however, the need to keep the car higher, just as it was in Marina Bay, has an even more marked impact: this was seen very well in the area of ​​the rapid chicane of the swimming pools, where there are more depressions. In other less bumpy areas, such as the climb towards the Casino or the Tobacconist, the aerodynamic qualities of the RB20 emerge more, while where you have to fight on the curbs you notice a more critical behaviour. Both Perez and Verstappen, despite a slightly different set-up, suffered from a lack of precision on the front axle. However, there are still tenths to be unlocked, because Red Bull has remained conservative on the Power Unit side and this can be seen not only in top speeds, but also in progression.

Between Friday and Saturday in Imola Red Bull was able to make a good step forward, but the Italian circuit also presents different characteristics that allowed the problems to be circumvented. Finding a balance between the various aspects in Monaco is much more complex, especially for a single-seater which already struggled more here last year than in other events. A similar story to that of McLaren, which on Friday seems to have shown some more signs of fatigue in those areas where work needs to be done on a mechanical level.

At Red Bull it will be an intense and hard night not only to find performance, but also to give more confidence to the drivers, who have suffered from the disconnections. Giving greater consistency to those in the cockpit on a track like Monaco could help compensate, at least in part, for the problems.