2024 Scuderia Ferrari F1 Team

[Sidewinder]

That's a very nice way to put it and indeed no one would have even questioned if RB20 is still the best out there in that case

And I like Piergiuseppe Donadoni's poin:
"The MCL38 was once again plagued by that annoying rear overheating that limited its potential at the start of this World Championship, as well as in the final part of the first stint.

On the second stint, Verstappen's Red Bull began to lose temperature, especially at the front, due to annoying understeer, while Norris was able to start to move smoothly without being subjected to that annoying overheating seen at the start of the race.

However, it should be emphasized that the SF-24 2.0 was the most stable on the tires, which was also confirmed by Leclerc at the end of the race, neither overheating nor underheating the tires. However, Leclerc's starting position, coupled with a suboptimal strategy and a mistake, prevented him from coming much closer to Max Verstappen and Lando Norris at the finish line."

With such close gaps, it takes a perfect team performance to win, and sometimes a little luck.
+ I'm hoping the package is still mastered and in Canada car will be faster.

That's what's concerning though. The SF-24 was in its window while the MCL38 was limited by overheating rears due to higher than expected track temperatures, once that stopped being a problem the difference in pace was not small. Only time will tell but I feel the gap is bigger than what Imola let on.

Also I would NOT underestimate the ability of Leclerc to absolutely dominate Monaco qualifying. The SF-23 was like half a second off the pace on average in quali in the first half of 2023, despite that Leclerc was within a tenth of pole in Monaco. The 2021 Ferrari was also pretty middling, yet Leclerc took pole in Monaco. The 2022 Ferrari was by far the best car in Monaco, but Leclerc was on track for a 0.8-1 second gap to the fastest non-Ferrari until Perez crashed out.

All three were traction monsters, which the SF-24 is very much not.

edit: I can't find the link now, but I think it was Sainz who said that the upgrades won't help much at Monaco.

But what it does do well is medium speed cornerns, braking performance, performance at bumpy tracks etc. Like I said.

Which is why the narrative Imola was an unfavorable track doesn't really square up.

[Silent Storm]

Charles seems to be confident about pole and win in Monaco...

[Silent Storm]

Is Sainz the only Ferrari driver since 1996 to not finish P4 or higher in WDC?

[Space-heat]

Charles seems to be confident about pole and win in Monaco...

Charles always says the aim is pole and to win so I wouldn't over estimate Ferrari chances in Monaco. Mclaren are the unknown. Piastri had quotes saying they have sacrificed high speed for significant low speed improvement.

The "hope to take the lead" is interesting. The next big upgrade package is Silverstone and you'd have to imagine Mclaren and Red Bull won't stay still. New rear wings have been reported but they are most likely circuit specific. Have to wait and see, but better to be talking about wins than a rhetoric of closing the gap at the front.

[AmateurDriver]

Charles seems to be confident about pole and win in Monaco...

Let's hope that's not the usual smokescreen claim by Ferrari. Reacting as quickly as possible with new upgrades is mandatory for defending a second place in WCC that at the moment is due to survive two or three races.

[MTL79]

I'm not sure I understand why we think Ferrari can win at Monaco, given the track layout and the numerous slow speed corners? Am I being overly simplistic? I understand the importance of qualifying here, but I'm not optimistic despite Leclerc's superb form around this track.

[AmateurDriver]

I'm not sure I understand why we think Ferrari can win at Monaco, given the track layout and the numerous slow speed corners? Am I being overly simplistic? I understand the importance of qualifying here, but I'm not optimistic despite Leclerc's superb form around this track.

It's more that we hugely look forward to winning in Monaco, much more than in previous races of the season, for that would mean our car has a strength -low speed cornering ability- to build on, given that for the time being it has not shown any, in front of two competitors, not only one, that have proved to be eligible for multiple wins.

[CouncilorIrissa]

Charles seems to be confident about pole and win in Monaco...

He never specified the year!

[Seanspeed]

I'm not sure I understand why we think Ferrari can win at Monaco, given the track layout and the numerous slow speed corners? Am I being overly simplistic? I understand the importance of qualifying here, but I'm not optimistic despite Leclerc's superb form around this track.

I think maybe some folks should understand this isn't the same car as past years. We've got something much better in higher speed stuff, but we've definitely sacrificed low speed cornering and agility for it.

I feel like Mclaren will be favorites if everything is straightforward and this might be a worst case situation for Ferrari. Not good at low speed corners, not good at tire warmup, and tires last forever for anybody and overtaking is impossible so any potential tire life advantage is completely nullified.

[zeroday]

Ahh yes Monaco or as i like to call it: Floor Reveal Weekend. I wonder which big name will crash out first: Perez? Leclerc? Russell? I miss the old Verstappen (Crashtappen was his name for years lets not forget) when he was a magnet for crashes. Sargent is too easy a given, so he isn't included in this lucky weekend sweepstakes.

[AmateurDriver]

Ahh yes Monaco or as i like to call it: Floor Reveal Weekend. I wonder which big name will crash out first: Perez? Leclerc? Russell? I miss the old Verstappen (Crashtappen was his name for years lets not forget) when he was a magnet for crashes. Sargent is too easy a given, so he isn't included in this lucky weekend sweepstakes.

Let's hope it will not turn to be Pants Reveal Weekend for once.

[deadhead]

Charles seems to be confident about pole and win in Monaco...

His luck racing in Monaco is horrible tho so I expect rain at the wrong time for him on Saturday and starting outside the top 10 on a dry Sunday

[Vanja #66]

Is Sainz the only Ferrari driver since 1996 to not finish P4 or higher in WDC?

You mean like "not even in one season taken P4 or higher in WDC while driving for Ferrari?" In that case yes, missed an easy P4 in WDC in 2022, lots of errors every other race.

[bananapeel23]

Charles seems to be confident about pole and win in Monaco...

His luck racing in Monaco is horrible tho so I expect rain at the wrong time for him on Saturday and starting outside the top 10 on a dry Sunday

No that would be too lucky for Leclerc. It's much more likely that he qualifies on pole by half a second with Sainz being down in p4 at +0.6. Leclerc leads comfortably before and after the pitstops, then suffers a mechanical DNF around lap 65 because of something entirely out of his and Ferrari's control, like a blue flagged driver crashing in front of him, leading to an unavoidable crash like Checo and Sainz crashing in Q3 in 2022.

Then Sainz somehow ends up P1 after the red flag and wins the race, leading to inevitable discussions of Leclerc being error prone and inconsistent, while Sainz has the better race pace and should have stayed for 2025 over Leclerc.

[Silent Storm]

Is Sainz the only Ferrari driver since 1996 to not finish P4 or higher in WDC?

You mean like "not even in one season taken P4 or higher in WDC while driving for Ferrari?" In that case yes, missed an easy P4 in WDC in 2022, lots of errors every other race.

Yes, that is what I meant... 2024 seems to be his final chance.