Ferrari’s struggle with tire degradation continues in Jeddah

The Ferrari team faced a disappointing race in Jeddah, with Ferrari’s struggle with tire degradation issues and lacking race pace being the main cause of concern. Despite a more promising qualifying session, the Scuderia’s weaknesses in dirty air and tire management were exposed during the Grand Prix.

During the race in Jeddah, the Ferrari drivers had a pale complexion. However, the contrast was more evident during the qualifying session. Charles Leclerc finished just one and a half tenths behind Sergio Perez, while Carlos Sainz was half a second behind his teammate.

Regarding the race, the Ferrari drivers have a mitigating factor: the timing of the safety car was particularly unfavorable to them (as they had just made a pit stop before it came out!).

Looking back, Carlos Sainz recognizes that the timing of the safety car was not favorable, as they were demonstrating their competitiveness on the medium tires and were about to overtake Stroll.

The Ferrari drivers were able to display a slightly improved pace after facing difficulty in dirty air behind Stroll.

However, in his opinion, the outcome of the race would not have been significantly different regardless.”

Ferrari suffered the most with the hard tyres in the second half of the Grand Prix, with the gap to Red Bull being one or even two seconds per lap.

This is what concerns Carlos Sainz the most today.

The final stint on the hard tires highlights Ferrari’s struggle with degrading Pirellis, as they seem to be falling behind Mercedes and Aston Martin in terms of race pace.

However, in Jeddah, with a supposedly better top speed, the Ferrari should have been closer to Red Bull on paper. This (bad) surprise was also unexpected for Carlos Sainz.

Carlos Sainz expresses his surprise at the Ferrari’s performance in Saudi Arabia, stating that he believed they could have been the second-best team after Friday’s practice sessions. However, the last stint of the race highlighted their weakness, and the team still has a lot of work to do before improving their race pace.

The degradation, especially when the Ferrari is following another car, is indeed the major weak point of the Scuderia, just like last year…

“Currently, we are unable to achieve the targeted race pace and our car’s overall balance is still suboptimal. We are facing difficulties when driving in turbulent air. When we follow other F1 cars, the tires overheat quickly and get worn out faster, which makes it challenging to achieve a decent lap time. We require clean air to perform well.”

“Identifying our weaknesses is a positive aspect for us. While we cannot expect immediate solutions to our problems, we are fully aware that our team is striving to expedite the upgrades that will enhance our race pace.”

Due to this degradation issue, the Ferrari was not as fast on the straight lines in Saudi Arabia, as the Scuderia opted to run with more downforce to save the Pirelli tires.

“We opted for a higher drag configuration in Jeddah, unlike Bahrain where we ran with less drag. Our rear wing in Jeddah was comparable to the one used in Bahrain, which may have contributed to our lower speed on the straights. It’s possible that in Bahrain, we had less aerodynamic downforce than our competitors, but in Jeddah, we were on an equal footing.”

“Our constraint is not related to drag or power, but rather our race pace and tire degradation. Additionally, the car’s sensitivity in corners is also a concern. We understand that we are not in the ideal position, but we are cognizant of our shortcomings and remain committed to further development.”

Ferrari’s struggle with tire degradation continues in Jeddah Ferrari’s struggle with tire degradation continues in Jeddah Ferrari’s struggle with tire degradation continues in Jeddah

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