Monza Qualifying, a Cloud Slows Down Ferrari: McLaren Masters with Tyres

By Carlo Platella
Balance reigns again at Monza, but the only sovereign remains McLaren. The one from Woking confirms itself as a competitive car everywhereeven on a track and in conditions that were the polar opposite of those encountered in Zandvoort. The best McLaren was needed to repel the assaults of Mercedes and Ferrari, who will still have their say in the race. A black day instead for Verstappen, struggling with a car that is fast at times but far too sensitive.

Consistency pays

The real surprise of the day was Lando Norris’ dissatisfaction with the lap that earned him pole position, reinforcing the image of a competitive McLaren ahead of everyone despite the mistake made at the First Variant. Even though coming from the Zandvoort ride, it was not a given to imagine a front row entirely papaya-colored in Monza, with Andrea Stella who only a month ago spoke of still 50% development regarding efficiency in low load configuration.

At the current stage of development, however, all cars have now reached similar levels of efficiency, as demonstrated by the close split times, while a year ago there were appreciable differences depending on the sector. What makes the difference in Monza is the balanceboth cause and consequence of the tyre temperatures between the two axles. In this McLaren is rewarded by the choice to return to the more loaded wing of Spa in the free practice on Friday afternoon, reacting to the evolution of the track.

Overall, the robustness of the Woking car is surprising, always at the top of the rankings in a weekend where conditions evolve rapidly, even within the same session. “The car has been performing consistently over the past two days, which was a strong point during qualifyingbecause we saw different cars being fast at different times,” reflects Andrea Stella. A consistency that offers pilots a reliable platform to get ever closer to the limit: “[L’auto] I wouldn’t call it repeatable or predictable, because the conditions were tricky, but consistent enough for our drivers to learn from one set of tyres to the next.”

Quicksilver

Mercedes was convincing in Monza, with Hamilton able to win first in the third free practice and then in Q2. Sir Lewis himself then took the blame for the disappointing performance in Q3, taking responsibility for the sixth final place. George Russell did better, third and able to take advantage of his exit from the pits at the back of the group in Q3, thus benefiting from Verstappen’s powerful slipstream when he crosses the finish line at the end of his lap. Another positive piece of news is the confirmation of the Spa floor on both cars, after Friday’s experiments following the doubts that arose in Zandvoort.

The Red One That Doesn’t Turn

Despite fourth and fifth place, Ferrari confirms its better form at Monza, keeping in mind that qualifying remains one of the weak points of the Prancing Horse. Both drivers complain about understeer in high-speed corners, sharpened by a passing cloud which in Q3 lowers the track temperature from 50 to 47°C, with the rear gaining grip on the asphalt at the expense of the front. “I had some heavy understeer on the first Lesmo and another in Parabolica, which were probably constant for me, one or half a tenth each”explains Sainz. “If you look at the gaps you understand that if we had had the balance in the fast we could have fought for pole”.

The Spaniard is very fast in the first sector, but not because of a particularly lighter set-up compared to the competition, with just 1 km/h more on the straight compared to the McLarens. In the first two Varianti instead Leclerc pays for the small differences in set-up from his teammatepreferred for the benefits found elsewhere, but penalizing the rotation of the car at low speeds. “In the first two chicanes we had the same problem since the first free practice, we couldn’t get the car to turn. For some reason in FP3 it disappeared, then it came back in qualifying”the Monegasque’s story.

In the meantime, Ferrari cautiously approves the new fund, apparently useful to limit bouncing, waiting for feedback on more representative tracks. Leclerc continues: “From the numbers it seems that everything is going much better. However, I think that we wouldn’t have suffered from bouncing anyway on this track, even with the old package”. The best news is the absence of other side effects from the updates, which is not at all a given in the development of these ground effect Formula 1 cars.

Red Bull missing

More was expected from the world champions, on a track theoretically more suited to the characteristics of the RB20. Both drivers struggle with difficulties in corner entry, a problem present not only at low speeds, but also in the fastest corners. Added to all this is the absence of a low-downforce rear wing which, in addition to costing Ferrari and McLaren 3 and 2 km/h less speed respectively, deprives the team of a degree of freedom to stem chronic understeer.Not having a winger for Monza doesn’t help”, admits Verstappen. “The change in balance that I’m experiencing, however, I’ve had for a long time”.

It’s a Red Bull that also appears fragile, with inexplicable changes in behavior from one lap to the next.. “For some reason in Q3 I ran into a lot of understeer on both sets of tyres. I don’t understand it at the moment. It was undrivable, I couldn’t attack any curves.”explains Verstappen, according to whom the difficulties in Q3 are not due to the drop in temperature. “The only explanation is that I felt better on used tyres rather than new ones. The balance change in Q3 was strange though, I have never experienced anything like this”.

The great movement of the mechanics in the box a few minutes before the start of qualifying is eloquent, suggesting a last minute change of setup in an attempt to correct the situation. The picture that reaches the outside is that of a team without references. It is difficult to understand the choice to invert the new and early season surfaces between the two cars with respect to Zandvoort, rather than conducting comparative tests with the same track and track conditions. Red Bull has proven its critics wrong several times in the past, but never before has the situation seemed so enigmatic.