Ferrari took off on a competitive trajectory at the start of the season, but the team failed to maintain that momentum throughout the campaign. A small performance window, coupled with the general issues highlighted by drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, sums up the problems that the Prancing Horse has been dealing with.
Sadly, a recent technical analysis spelled more trouble for the Italian outfit in the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Will the SF-25 Hold Up Around the Las Vegas Strip? More Trouble for Ferrari
Brakeboosted on X took a deep dive into the technical aspects surrounding Ferrari’s prospects for the Las Vegas weekend. They highlighted key factors, including the track layout and tire wear, as the main points of discussion for this race.
“When you look at the Las Vegas track layout in isolation, this should, on paper, be a track where the SF-25 is in a better performance window,” they tweeted.
“It’s essentially Monza without the high-speed corners, which is largely where our difficulties originated that weekend. That is, accounting for the fact that they chose to trim out what was already a Monza specification wing setup. I expect them to run in this configuration without the hassle of dealing with high-speed deficiencies, as they did in Italy.”
Other variables in the circuit in Vegas that cause complications include lateral load and cooler weather. The low lateral load means teams cannot capitalize on hysteretic heat cycling, and the cooler weather at this time of year makes tire preparation harder.
Several implications arise from these challenges, mainly relating to graining and overall tire performance:
“What are the implications of these struggles at a circuit like LV? Under-prepped tyres mean you don’t fully get to exploit the tyres’ performance. Low grip leads to sliding, which causes thermal decoupling between the tyre surface and the carcass, which is more commonly known as graining. This is something everyone will have to deal with, but it would not come as a surprise if I said you were very much on the extreme end of the tyre prep woes.”
Ferrari’s inability to warm tires has resulted in the cars suffering from braking issues, noting how hard they are on the brakes. Luckily, there’s a lot of “downtime” between heavy braking zones in Vegas, which mitigates these effects.
Brakeboosted finished with a summary of the team’s prospects in Las Vegas, saying,
“I expect any shortcomings for Ferrari to be directly related to tyre performance. This doesn’t mean I think we’ll be hyper-competitive, but I think the chances of fighting for a podium are only made possible through the execution of qualifying.
“This has to be the absolute vocal point of their run plans. It’s one of the very few circuits on the calendar where having ‘bad’ thermal degradation is a good thing.”
Due to the thermal degradation factor, Mercedes could set the pace in the States, given their performance this year.
