F1 | Ferrari: the tires don't wear out, we can start to hope

On two out of three days in pre-season testing, Ferrari was ahead of Red Bull. In other times the bass drum would have been played to fuel the hope of seeing a red ahead of everyone next week in the Bahrain GP which, in obedience to Ramadan, will be held on Saturday. And, instead, the Cavallino men do not want to fuel false myths, preferring to remain with their feet firmly planted on the ground.

The time table is looked at only for historical value: on record it will appear that the jubilee Carlos Sainz was the only one yesterday to break the 1'30″ barrier. The Spaniard with 1'29”921 had arrived within a couple of tenths of the pole position of the year before Max Verstappen with the Red Bull RB19. Charles Leclerc today did not repeat his teammate's time, stopping at 1'30″322, just 46 thousandths better than George Russell's Mercedes W15 which, like the Ferrari driver and the third-placed driver, Guanyu Zhou with the Sauber had chosen the compound C4, the softest one not selected for the Sakhir GP which will open the 2024 world championship.

The Monegasque's SF-24 had a different set-up from the one decided by Carlos and it shouldn't be surprising if the Madrilenian was in front with a solution that ultimately proved to be more performing. Evidently some settings were not ideal, but it was right to evaluate them, to arrive at Friday's qualifying with clear ideas.

How much is the new Ferrari worth? It's difficult to say, because there are those who have played a bit of covert cards (the feeling is that in every long run Red Bull has changed the tire compounds, but not the quantity of fuel on board, so it would be improper to speak of real race simulation carried out by the red car).

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-24

Photo by: Giorgio Piola

Judging by the times of Leclerc's stints, the SF-24 struggled a bit with the C3, especially at the end of the run, but proved to be very comfortable with both the C1 and C2. At the end of the day, the Cavallino men estimate a gap from Red Bull of around three tenths. Considering only the reference RB20, that of Max Verstappen, while Sergio Perez, who has never seemed in splendid form, would be attackable by Ferrari. The ambition, therefore, could be to aim for a front row on the grid for the first GP.

It is widely believed in the paddock that the Scuderia has made an important leap in quality with the SF-24 and the red car should be considered the first challenger to the Dutch world champion, leaving both McLaren and Mercedes a step behind, putting Aston further behind Martin.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

The Prancing Horse technicians think they can still find a little something in terms of performance by working on the settings of the new rear suspension which has not repudiated the pull rod scheme, but has a new geometry resulting from the shorter gearbox.

The SF-24 showed neutral behavior that the two drivers liked, so much so that they both had a good adaptation to the car, while on the SF-23 what suited Leclerc ended up not satisfying Carlos and vice versa. This element is not secondary, because it facilitates the development of the car in a direction that the couple likes and does not favor one or the other.

Leclerc underlined the improved handling of the red one: the SF-24 has very little resemblance to the shrew SF-23, always very unpredictable in its reactions, but in particular when a bit of cross wind began to blow.

Ferrari SF-24, technical detail of the belly without bodywork

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

Not only did the drivers find a good feeling with this Ferrari, but the first set-up adjustments began on the car today and the red car seemed sensitive to the changes. A comforting fact for the development which has seen different ground clearances experimented, without negative effects on the tyres.

Tire wear, a concern of the past season, was understood and controlled by Enrico Cardile's staff: during the long runs the times with the harder compounds (C1 and C2) were decreasing as the fuel in the tank decreased, a sign that the redhead didn't show any unpredictable reactions, but she seemed sufficiently docile.

Ferrari SF-24: set-up adjustments began today

Photo by: Giorgio Piola

It's clear that being an easy-to-drive F1 doesn't automatically mean Ferrari is fast on the track, but it raises hopes that we'll see a more competitive car on the grid in Sakhir. The SF-24 gave the impression of being a relatively simple car to set up, while the difficulty gradient seen for certain solutions of the Red Bull RB20 suggests that Adrian Newey's weapon requires more set-up time and explains , at least in part, Perez's major adaptation difficulties in a day and a half of testing.

We hope not to revisit past situations, when good starts to the season were lost in developments that were unable to keep up with Red Bull's pace during the championship. At Gestion Sportiva they worked hard to bring the red car closer to the world champions, but they must also have thought about what SF-24 will need to not get lost after the first results as happened at the beginning of 2022…