By Carlo Platella
A day of comparisons at Silverstone. The challenge between Lando Norris and Max Verstappen is renewed at the top, but the only direct comparison on Friday is on race pace, where Red Bull and McLaren appear close again. At Ferrari, however, they continue to compare the Barcelona updates with the previous version of the SF-24. The updated Rossa continues to suffer on high-speed corners, but before returning to the old specification, some clarification is needed.
Hidden Red Bull
There is great anticipation at Silverstone for the new act of the Verstappen-Norris challenge. The circumstances of the English Friday, however, prevent us from thinking too much about the time classification, conditioned by a Verstappen who carries out his qualifying simulation well in advance, in worse track conditions than those encountered by his friend-rival, the fastest in the afternoon. The same goes for the race pace tests, of which the fuel loads remain unknown. With the same tyres, however, it is surprising Norris’s great aggression at the beginning of the stinton average 2 tenths faster in the first laps than Verstappen, who instead shows better consistency.
The challenge between Red Bull and McLaren is also played out on the upgrade front. At Silverstone The RB20 sports a new basethe fourth since the start of the season, which marries with the sidepods introduced in Barcelona. McLaren for its part equips itself with a new low-downforce rear wing, coupled with a set of three new beam-wings. The Woking team looks ahead, equipping itself with a medium-low downforce package that will also come in handy in Spa. All without losing sight of the present, using the morning’s free practice to collect data on the changes to the wing and front suspension made in Austria.
Ferrari, updates compared
The Scuderia from Maranello uses the two free practice sessions to conduct a series of tests, comparing the latest version of the SF-24 with the one before the Barcelona updates. Interesting as Ferrari should not limit itself to comparing the old and new fundbut also compare the different versions of the sides, remembering how much the bodywork interacts with the lower aerodynamics of the single-seater.
As Federico Albano points out on these pages, the Spanish updates ensure an effective increase in aerodynamic load, visible in various points of the track. The problems arise in some high-speed sections, such as Copse and Turn 1, where Leclerc appears to be in obvious difficulty, not at all hidden in the radio communications.I really struggle with fast”, the Monegasque’s response to his engineer.
The puzzle for Ferrari is to transform the increase in downforce into an effective gain in speed in the high-speed corners, currently hampered by driving difficulties. Suspicions immediately run to bouncing, the annoying rebounds that the Red has suffered from since Barcelona. However, other character limitations are not excluded. and balance, so much so that Leclerc himself asks if the problem is actually porpoising.
The good news for Ferrari is that Silverstone, but in general the entire recent triptych of European races, represents an excellent test bench, full of fast corners that expose the limits of the latest aerodynamic package. The tests conducted on the English Friday are however only the latest in a series of experiments also carried out in Spain and Austria, which saw the Reds run with different set-up configurations. A long analysis work that is inevitably also compromising Ferrari’s preparation for individual events.
It’s about understanding
On the eve of Silverstone, Charles Leclerc was showing signs of a certain optimism about the team’s ability to resolve the SF-24’s set-up problems in the short term. Judging from what was seen on the first day on track, the objective does not seem to have been achieved yet, even if the team will have the night to mull over the data. For Ferrari, however, retracing its steps and trash the latest updates It is not a choice that can be taken lightly.
First of all, in Maranello it is not yet clear whether, once the correct mechanical compromise has been identified to eliminate the side effects of the Spanish package, the new SF-24 will be slower or faster than the previous version. Even more so, for the Prancing Horse it is essential to trace the physical origin of the problems, in order not to make the same mistake again. Ferrari aims for much more that make the latest updates work, seeking those essential certainties to set up future developments, including the 2025 project.
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