Ferrari’s Struggles in Brazil: A Tale of Speed and Set-Up
Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, both driving for Ferrari, expressed their frustration with the performance of the SF-25 during the Brazil Grand Prix sprint. The two drivers found themselves in eighth and 11th positions respectively after qualifying, with Leclerc highlighting a persistent issue with the car’s instability.
This instability has been a recurring problem for Ferrari throughout the season, and it seems to have followed them to Brazil. Despite this, both drivers managed to climb up the ranks during the race, finishing fifth and seventh. However, they were far from satisfied with the overall performance of their cars.
The success in the race was attributed to two main factors: strong starts from both Leclerc and Hamilton, and an incident involving Oscar Piastri, who crashed while in third place. Even with these positive outcomes, the drivers remained critical of their car’s lack of top speed.
Hamilton shared his thoughts on the race, stating that he enjoyed the event despite the challenging conditions. He highlighted the importance of a good start and acknowledged the difficulty in overtaking due to the red flag that neutralized the race.
“Everyone got fresh tyres, it was just really difficult to overtake,” Hamilton said. “But we do have problems with the balance of the car, and our top speed is really slow, so that’s why we can’t oververt. So we need to see how we can tackle that into qualifying.”
Leclerc, on the other hand, is already planning to experiment with the car’s set-up for the remainder of the weekend. He admitted that the past few days have been tough, as both cars are experiencing similar issues.
“We have an issue on both cars; we cannot quite explain what’s going on there. We are losing a lot of lap time in the straight,” Leclerc said. “We know we have higher downforce than others, but that doesn’t explain the gap that we see in the straight. So there’s something off that I hope we can understand before qualifying.”
Leclerc emphasized the need for change, stating that the current set-up isn’t meeting expectations. He mentioned that experimenting with the set-up might be the way forward, even if it means taking risks.
“I’ll [experiment] anyway with the set-up, because at the moment we are not where we want to be, and I don’t think it can be much worse than qualifying yesterday. So I’ll [experiment], and hopefully that will help us to do a step forward.”
Despite the challenges, both drivers remain determined to improve their performance. The focus now shifts to qualifying, where Ferrari needs to address the issues with their car’s speed and handling. With the right adjustments, there is still hope for a stronger showing in the upcoming races.