The Ferrari did Sparks in Australia, from the mechanical side, but also from the human one. The Maranello technicians, working on the set-up, managed to make the fund rejected in Jeddah and allow the SF-23 to “fly” closer to the ground to seek that aerodynamic efficiency lacking in the first two races.
Ferrari, lower and more efficient
The proof of the decidedly lower set-up was, in fact, those Sparks which have been revised to arise from the friction between the surface and the asphalt, the result of a general configuration that has allowed a Leclerc e Sainz a consistent race simulation on Friday, with the averages, without suffering too much from the graining triggered by the low temperatures of Melbourne.
The wrong choices in qualifying
The Cavallino, however, was unable to put everything together perfectly in qualifying, also due to one weather reading and an untimely strategic call which influenced the final result, especially that of Leclerc.
Let’s be clear, Max is impregnable, but given the minimum gaps starting from second to tenth place (9 cars in seven tenths!) More could have been done than Sainz’s fifth place and Charles’ seventh. In short, after a positive Friday, Ferrari abruptly came back down to earth.
Explanation
But what happened? It all started with an alarm pioggia 4 minutes from the end of Q3: Leclerc, to avoid running on a wet track, was ordered to do a single launch lap to prepare the tyres, Sainz, on the contrary, continued with the two-lap strategy to warm up the tires better.
Opposite indications and late communications, which they have had the effect of putting Leclerc, engaged in the attack on time, behind Sainz, which warmed up the tyres, throughout the first sector. And without being able to even exploit the wakebecause the Spaniard was too far away to give him the hook and made him pass in the last part of the first sector, making him lose – perhaps – precious tenths.
Comment from the pilots
Leclerc’s disappointment is understandable, but he didn’t want to have it justifications: “It wasn’t a question of not having petrol for another attempt, we were simply afraid that the rain would arrive, so we decided to go out and do the lap right away. Unfortunately we lacked a lot to be able to stay in front, we have to see together with the team what is happened with Carlos in the first sector during Q3, because I was on a lap where I had to push and I found Carlos in front for the whole first sector warming up his tires.That was a shame, then that doesn’t mean to say that without that unexpected event we could have done much better. As far as I’m concerned, I have a slightly more racing car, but this doesn’t justify 7th place”.
For Sainz, however, it was the traffic to keep him away from the top 3. Before launching, he had to give space to Alonsothus losing tire temperature and tenths to move up the line. “On the one hand I’m very happy, on the other I’m not. Starting with the negatives, the preparation lap wasn’t fantastic, we struggled with the tire temperatures because we had to let three cars pass and because of that I lost two-three tenths in the first sector for this aspect of the preparation lap.”
Hopes alive in the race
In the race, however, anything could still happen. The SF-23 proved to be quicker on the pace than on the flying lap, the leeway to attack the Mercedes and fighting for a podium, with Perez offside, that’s all.