Weather permitting, Ferrari is planning to conduct a set-up comparison test between its two cars in Friday’s practice sessions in a bid to better understand how to optimize its recent upgrade package.
The Scuderia introduced significant changes to its SF-24 at the Spanish Grand Prix two weeks, but while the Italian outfit has seen no correlation issues with its upgrades, its car’s performance has not lived up to expectations.
One problem noted by Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz is a bouncing phenomenon in high-speed corners that has negated some of the SF-24’s gains.
Vasseur suggests that the problem is likely rooted in the car’s set-up rather than in the efficiency of its updated components.
This weekend’s traditional format offers Ferrari an opportunity to devote more time to set-up and development work.
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“We revert to the standard format this weekend, which means we have three hours of free practice in which to find a set-up that allows us to exploit the benefits that the new parts should deliver,” explained Vasseur.
“Knowing how best to set up the car can actually have a bigger effect on lap time than the specific benefits of any new components.”
Unfortunately, heavy clouds hovering over Silverstone on Friday morning did not bode well for a dry day in Northamptonshire.
“If it rains [too much], then maybe the test that we wanted to do between both cars to confirm a few things will have to be postponed to the next race,” commented Leclerc.
“However, we are still trying to work out on where we need to set up the car in order to maximise the potential of those upgrades, because the numbers that we were expecting from this upgrade are there.
“So, the upgrade is working the way it should be, but it’s more about where you run the car to optimise those numbers that we see. For now we haven’t quite managed to do that, so we are still working on that.”
Sainz says its been clear since Barcelona that Ferrari’s performance has regressed since the introduction of its development package.
“We accept and we realise that since Barcelona we have been less competitive than before Barcelona,” he said.
“This obviously raises a bit our concerns on the package and we need to try to understand as much as possible everything involved with it.
“Bouncing 100% costs you time. What I think is that it costs you even more time than what you think,” he concluded.
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