P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Ferrari were the surprise pace-setters over McLaren in the sole free practice session for the Qatar Grand Prix. RacingNews365 technical expert Paolo Filisetti explains why.
The Qatar Grand Prix’s only free practice session saw Ferrari performing exceptionally well, as Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz outperformed the McLarens by finishing first and fourth, sandwiching them in between. The new SF-24 models from Ferrari seemed to excel at the Lusail International Circuit, especially with the modified floor setup they introduced. It was notable that Leclerc’s car had the experimental floor tested by his teammate in Las Vegas, showing promising results. The balance shown by the SF-24 with different tire compounds was impressive, with Leclerc’s performance compared to Lando Norris from McLaren revealing a significant difference, especially in fast corners. This signifies a strong improvement for Ferrari over their previous model, addressing past weaknesses and now challenging McLaren’s dominance on the track. Overall, the shift in competitiveness between Ferrari and McLaren suggests a new era of balanced performance in Formula 1 racing for the teams.
