F1 | Ferrari down in temperature: Leclerc complains, Vasseur does not completely absolve him

In a season of twenty-four races, there can also come a day when a team finds itself collecting much less than expected because of its drivers (with an asterisk). This is what happened to Ferrari at the end of the qualifying in Singapore, which ended with the bitter verdict of a ninth and a tenth position. In Marina Bay this means an uphill race with an almost prohibitive slope. The front row was within reach, Charles Leclerc (third in Q2) at 67 thousandths from Max Verstappen, seemed in a position to have his say.

It all came crashing down in Q3, or rather, the moment when it all comes down to putting it all together. The first bad news for the Scuderia garage was Carlos Sainz’s crash, going off the track at Turn 18 while he was embarking on his first ‘run’ with a set of new tyres. The red flag came out and he had eight minutes to spare before the checkered flag, or rather a flying lap. A lap in which Leclerc crashed. The temperature of his front tyres dropped a bit while waiting to exit the pit lane, and in the outlap Charles was unable to bring the tyres back into the correct temperature window. The very high price was paid immediately with a long run at Turn 1 that took Leclerc over the white line: time cancelled by race direction and ninth place on the grid.

There is a question mark, however, and it concerns the reason that led Leclerc to start his flying lap with the front axle outside the ideal window of use. Frederic Vasseur did not completely absolve Charles: “We waited a bit longer than necessary in the pits – explained the team principal – and that is where we lost the temperature. Then Charles pushed a bit more (in the outlap) and got back to the right temperature before the start of the lap. Then, you know that when there is only one lap available you have to push and you are at the limit”. In Singapore, no one wants to be the first to go out on the track due to the progressive improvement of the track, and for this reason Charles waited for the two McLarens to come out. But in the stretch that separates the Scuderia garage from the traffic lights at the end of the pit lane, three other drivers entered, spending 50 seconds in the queue before being able to exit.

There is also a tyre warm-up procedure to consider, which is probably not ideal, but Leclerc is not in agreement on this point and does not go into detail. “In Q1 and Q2 it went well, but when I came out of the pits in Q3 the front tyres were much colder. I don’t understand, we work so hard on tyre preparation throughout the weekend and then we get to a crucial lap and we come out of the pits with cold front tyres. The consequence is that our weekend is now in a very negative situation. Anyway, the team is investigating, I can’t say much about the problem. But the fact is that we started the lap with two cold front tyres, and they locked up in Turn 1”.

A very bitter balance for Ferrari, especially in light of the confirmed potential of the SF-24, perhaps not enough to challenge Lando Norris, but undoubtedly capable of aiming for the front row. The time obtained by Leclerc in Q2 would have guaranteed Charles third place on the starting grid, but there was room to shave off another tenth, and this could have brought him alongside Norris. “Then we threw everything in the bin,” concluded Leclerc, “I don’t want to go into too much detail, but obviously we are talking about one or two degrees, a margin that today means doing everything right or getting it all wrong.”

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-24

Photo by: Lionel Ng / Motorsport Images

Leclerc will share the fifth row with Sainz, and once again the topic (by now a habit) is the tyres. “Before I launched myself I had to let a lot of cars pass,” Carlos explained, “and when I accelerated to launch myself the tyres were much colder than I thought, and I made a mistake by underestimating the grip that had dropped. I was already under pressure because there was another car coming up and I knew a slower approach to the last corner would have compromised my lap.”

There is also a question mark over Carlos’ race, linked to the damage to the single-seater, which was badly damaged in the rear. If it is not necessary to replace elements that involve penalties, Sainz will start regularly from tenth position, but there is also the risk that he could be forced to start from the pit lane. “The car seems quite damaged – but Carlos confirmed – at the moment I can’t say much. I just hope to be able to have a normal race and find a good pace”.