2024 Chinese Grand Prix - Practice, Sprint & Qualifying Thread

[stefa]

Realising the impossibility of the task of beating Red Bull for any championship... their car has no weaknesses (maybe Singapore and that was just once) and they always deliver. Everyone else, us included, has a car which can be great on some occasions, but it's highly dependent on the track layout or temperature or wind or tyres or a freaking moon position.

Exactly!

[Liscia]

Shaping up to be a snoozer so I'm not staying up late to watch live and will likely have to FF through the DVR.
Best of luck to our team and expect they'll do their best. FORZA FERRARI!!!

[Aviamata]

Meanwhile at WEC our team get a Pole , then P2 (of Kubica) and P3

[FerrariF60]

Meanwhile at WEC our team get a Pole , then P2 (of Kubica) and P3

When and what time is the race?

[Cavallino]

So this is the track that shoud suit our car and McLaren should be bad here... ok. What is happening in F1? Our Sector 1 was horrible the whole weekend, probably the turn one. We need the upgrades yesterday. This waiting is not worth it at all.

i wouldn't buy much into the hype that Ferrari was supposed to go well here. Even if the track is somewhat similar to Australia, there are A LOT of variables this weekend.

I wouldn 't buy into Ferrari being quick at a front limited circuit anyway, that just doesn't fit with what we observed last year. Different car, yes, but if we are good in slow corners, that would lend itself to a rear limited circuit.

[tifosi1993]

Long time Ferrari fan and long time lurker here. I'm truly amazed at the amount of (unjustified)hate Carlos gets in the place. Zero comments on the absolute bonehead move from Alonso, a driver I rate highly, that destroyed Carlos's race. It's like some of you want to pretend that Charles would not put up a fight if the roles were reversed?

Carlos did nothing wrong and passed Alonso fair and square on the track. Alonso than dived into a gap that wasn't really there and pushed Carlos of the track. This should of been a podium for our team but you guys would rather bicker about the incident between our drivers.

Alonso got his comeuppance for being dirty. Sainz was also dirty with his teammate and almost ruined the race for Ferrari. We can discuss both.

Sainz didn't even bother to hit the apex, his sole goal was to drive Charles off the track. He's smart, so he should know that playing these games will only annoy Ferrari more and more. He's basically a stepchild right now, and acting like a spoiled brat will earn him his own comeuppance soon enough. It may force Ferrari to hold off putting upgrades on Sainz's car even before the summer break.

[tifosi1993]

i wouldn't buy much into the hype that Ferrari was supposed to go well here. Even if the track is somewhat similar to Australia, there are A LOT of variables this weekend.

I wouldn 't buy into Ferrari being quick at a front limited circuit anyway, that just doesn't fit with what we observed last year. Different car, yes, but if we are good in slow corners, that would lend itself to a rear limited circuit.

Low surface temperature makes the track rear-limited. Ferrari gave away 0.3-0.4 seconds in the first three corners alone, which had nothing to with performance.

Right now there is a big trade off between qualifying and race pace. It will not be improved when the surface temperature is low/before the Imola upgrades.

But the race pace is very good. Charles basically had negative tyre deg in last three races. He started today's sprint on scrubbed rubbers and his tyre deg was as good as the Red Bull (who also started on scrubbed mediums).

I'm expecting another P3-P4 tomorrow, but I think Sainz is going to struggle more tomorrow so P4 is not a guarantee.

[Liscia]

Meanwhile at WEC our team get a Pole , then P2 (of Kubica) and P3

Thanks for the reminder Aviamata, Fuoco+Ferrari=FIRE! A great weekend to be at Imola!

[Cavallino]

Low surface temperature makes the track rear-limited. Ferrari gave away 0.3-0.4 seconds in the first three corners alone, which had nothing to with performance.

Right now there is a big trade off between qualifying and race pace. It will not be improved when the surface temperature is low/before the Imola upgrades.

But the race pace is very good. Charles basically had negative tyre deg in last three races. He started today's sprint on scrubbed rubbers and his tyre deg was as good as the Red Bull (who also started on scrubbed mediums).

I'm expecting another P3-P4 tomorrow, but I think Sainz is going to struggle more tomorrow so P4 is not a guarantee.

you're mostly right, but the low temperatures and lack of grip are just further exposing the qualifying warmup tradeoff that I think we've been seeing so far this year.

what do yo mean sector 1 had nothing to do with performance? you mean the tyres just were not in the right window.

you're right about Charles and the negative deg. That to me, means we should have some room to dial back toward qualifying without sacrificing ANY race performance. It's a really good position to be in.

yeah, p3-p4 should happen tomorrow

i'm much more interested to see what happens in Miami than here.

[patrese86]

It's not all doom and gloom. P3-P4, P3-P7, P1-P2, P3-P4 and P4-P5 aren't bad results at all.

Ferrari will finish ahead of the Mclarens and Alonso tomorrow. But on pure performance we are losing out. That's why we need those upgrades.

We've clearly made a step in the right direction. Unfortunately people take a result in isolation (Melbourne) and then use it with a stick to beat us. I refer to our own kind in this, you need to be rational when discussing progression within Ferrari but like I said unfortunately people use these kind of positive results to then bash the team when they probably achieve the expected result given the characteristics of the circuit and temperatures.

[330 p4]

i wouldn't buy much into the hype that Ferrari was supposed to go well here. Even if the track is somewhat similar to Australia, there are A LOT of variables this weekend.

I wouldn 't buy into Ferrari being quick at a front limited circuit anyway, that just doesn't fit with what we observed last year. Different car, yes, but if we are good in slow corners, that would lend itself to a rear limited circuit.

Good article on The Race by Mark Hughrs with technical explanation that due to weather conditions and track surface changes this is currently a rear limited track not front limited like it usually is. As such its not a track that Ferrari can have a chance at Red Bull like Australia was. I still expect 3rd and 4th without unwanted dramas for the Ferrari's. Reverse of last year for Ferrari, start few places behind rivals but likely to make up places in race with tyre wear. Points given in race. I hated last year when so good in quali but knew best could hope for was to retain starting positions and always on the defensive in the race. Saturdays currently underwhelming but buzzing for Sundays race. Last year I just buzzed Saturday knowing Sunday will likely be really dissapointing.

[tifosi1993]

you're mostly right, but the low temperatures and lack of grip are just further exposing the qualifying warmup tradeoff that I think we've been seeing so far this year.

what do yo mean sector 1 had nothing to do with performance? you mean the tyres just were not in the right window.

you're right about Charles and the negative deg. That to me, means we should have some room to dial back toward qualifying without sacrificing ANY race performance. It's a really good position to be in.

yeah, p3-p4 should happen tomorrow

i'm much more interested to see what happens in Miami than here.

Ferrari focussed more on traction and acceleration rather than corner entry. Which is why they struggled in the first three corners. Low surface temperature also played its part.

Just like Japan, the SF24 will again come alive tomorrow. I'm expecting two stops with medium->hard->medium strategy. Charles has two sets of fresh mediums, and with his tyre deg, I'm expecting a very strong race from him. I'm expecting Norris and Alonso to start on sorts, so both of them will pit early and go for the undercut. But that's not going to matter much.

[tifosi1993]

We've clearly made a step in the right direction. Unfortunately people take a result in isolation (Melbourne) and then use it with a stick to beat us. I refer to our own kind in this, you need to be rational when discussing progression within Ferrari but like I said unfortunately people use these kind of positive results to then bash the team when they probably achieve the expected result given the characteristics of the circuit and temperatures.

Yeah, it was quite funny to read comments from our resident experts here when the SF24 was launched. It was all doom and gloom and bashing the car because of its rear pull rod layout, quite funny.

It's always better to not waste time with those experts. Ignore them and move on.

[Cavallino]

Good article on The Race by Mark Hughrs with technical explanation that due to weather conditions and track surface changes this is currently a rear limited track not front limited like it usually is. As such its not a track that Ferrari can have a chance at Red Bull like Australia was. I still expect 3rd and 4th without unwanted dramas for the Ferrari's. Reverse of last year for Ferrari, start few places behind rivals but likely to make up places in race with tyre wear. Points given in race. I hated last year when so good in quali but knew best could hope for was to retain starting positions and always on the defensive in the race. Saturdays currently underwhelming but buzzing for Sundays race. Last year I just buzzed Saturday knowing Sunday will likely be really dissapointing.

i will have to read it. I don't really understand why we were so quick in Australia. The temperate alone i guess? It's front limited.

Then you read Perez's comments after the race, and he says he thinks Ferrari will have the upper hand at front limited circuits, and mentions Las Vegas. Which isn't front limited!

I guess you could chalk that up to Perez just being a dummy.

[Cavallino]

Yeah, it was quite funny to read comments from our resident experts here when the SF24 was launched. It was all doom and gloom and bashing the car because of its rear pull rod layout, quite funny.

It's always better to not waste time with those experts. Ignore them and move on.

yeah, i liked what we did, because it meant we kept the advantages that we already had

[Cavallino]

i'm also interested to see if at a track where qualifying is everything, say Monaco, can we dial qualifying pace back into the car

[Cavallino]

btw, good discussion, very high quality posts 330p4 and tifosi1993

[aroutis]

@All, maybe you would like to wait till the end of the race.
If everything go well, and especially fingers crossed if Carlos does not do anything dirty once more, I think we do have a good chance for at least a 3/4 finish.

But let's wait right?

[paolo lalli]

Let's hope for some good points 3rd and 4th would be great any better would certainly shock.Ferrari just need to bring it home until the upgrades arrive, iam sure that an analysis on the red bull and the upcoming upgrades are happening at each and every race until they arrive,call it a work in progress.

[Aviamata]

When and what time is the race?

Today on 13h00 GMT+2 , after F1 race about 2 hours

[Schaun]

Let's hope for some good points 3rd and 4th would be great any better would certainly shock.Ferrari just need to bring it home until the upgrades arrive, iam sure that an analysis on the red bull and the upcoming upgrades are happening at each and every race until they arrive,call it a work in progress.

Looks like it will be a good competition with McLaren for the number 3 and 4 spots throughout the season. So far, it is going very well.