A Ferrari that needs to grow

A disappointing performance from the Maranello team, who had to step forward. Ferrari China

The Chinese race did not produce the expected results for Ferrari. The team finished the race in fourth place with Charles Leclerc and in fifth place with Carlos Sainz, behind the Red Bull and Mclaren of Lando Norris, their direct rivals in the championship.

A race marred by poor strategy and tire failure, after disappointing performances on Friday and Saturday.

So the team must try to understand what went wrong, in order to continue on the right path at the beginning of the season. Ferrari China

Performances of the two drivers in China

In the Chinese race, Charles Leclerc beat his teammate Carlos Sainz, for the first time this season. The Monegasque driver was able to make the most of the single seater despite the difficulty of the race. The days spent on the factory simulator were basically trying to improve performance.

Tough weekend, however, for Carlos Sainz. The Spanish driver never felt confident with the track and the car. After minimizing the damage in qualifying following the exit from the final corner, Sainz never lit up the race, ending the race with his worst result of 2024.

There was also no shortage of sparks on the rails from the two teammates, both in the sprints and in Sunday’s race. The behavior of the two drivers did not help the results of the team and cast a shadow on the relationship between the two drivers.

Was the strategy correct?

Ferrari focused on a one-stop strategy, which changed during the race, following the better performance of the medium tires and the entry of the Safety Car to recover the car of Valtteri Bottas.

A decision that somewhat jeopardized the final outcome of the race. Charles Leclerc failed to defend third place from Red Bull driver Sergio Perez. Carlos Sainz had problems throughout the race due to tire wear.

The words of the team principal Fred Vasseur at the end of the race: “For both drivers we had planned two stops, Charles was good in widening the position with the Mediums and when the Safety Car of the Network came we aimed to stop once, so. he could try to fight for the loudspeaker. Carlos, on the other hand, had just stopped when the race was reduced, and with him we also had to stop. This of course forced him to have a position at the end of the race but he still managed to bring home a better result.”

A nightmare of hard tires

Ferrari’s Achilles heel is still the hard tire. In the second part of the race the speed of the two drivers got worse compared to the first one made by the middle tire. A problem that also existed last season and which created difficulties for the team, since a person sitting alone cannot produce the performance of this type of tire.

Charles Leclerc said: “Our strategy was good and so was the performance; after the Safety Car we found ourselves all on the road with the same Hard tires but we couldn’t use them well. Now we have to rely on our technical progress: these will define the direction of the next part of the season.

Information appears for the next race

Ferrari has a huge package of updates planned for the single seater for the next two races in Miami and Imola. An improvement that, according to rumors, will bring a big vision of the current car.

The team has worked hard to complete the new features as quickly as possible and the team principals and drivers are very confident with the results achieved during the factory simulation.

The team needs to forget this weekend in China and focus on getting Red Bull as soon as possible to fight at the top of the standings.