Since the introduction of the new regulatory changes, the one team that has consistently posed a threat to Red Bull has been Ferrari. However, despite being the closest to challenge the mighty bulls, the Prancing Horse was still a few paces away, enough to keep the championship out of sight. However, it was never out of mind as Ferrari kept looking to solve their biggest and most persistent problem. As per Charles Leclerc’s coach, Jock Clear, Ferrari has solved this lingering issue, which will allow him to challenge Max Verstappen regularly.

Ferrari seemingly solved this persistent problem sometime around the inaugural Las Vegas GP, which did allow Leclerc to challenge Max Verstappen. According to Clear, the team back in Maranello has unlocked the car’s potential by solving this issue, which is none other than the high tire degradation. According to Clear, as quoted by Formula Passion, the matter is completely resolved and the fastest lap in Jeddah was proof.

We think we have understood what things make it possible to improve tire degradation,” said Clear. “It was a critical issue encountered two years ago and at the beginning of last year, but I believe that in 2023, in Las Vegas, we showed that Leclerc was capable of managing the tires at the level of Max Verstappen. Now I think it’s an area that we understand, and so we expect to continue working in the right direction.” (Translated via Google)

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It seems like the Ferrari men can finally push their SF-24 to the limit and extract the car’s true potential. It will be interesting to see how close Leclerc can get to Verstappen during races and hopefully, he won’t have to make admissions like he did after the Saudi Arabian GP.

However, the tire degradation was no secret and the entire grid was aware of Ferrari’s poor state in this particular aspect. This is exactly why the boss, Frederic Vasseur, was over the moon after positive signs in testing.

Frederic Vasseur elated after seeing Ferrari SF-24’s tire degradation data post-testing

Ferrari’s extreme tire degradation is no secret, and the team was very well aware of it aspect since the start of the 2022 season. A lot of their efforts since then have gone into understanding the reason behind the setback and what can be done to prevent it. After failing to solve this persistent problem in the first two years, Ferrari was able to crack the code toward the end of 2023. As mentioned earlier the Las Vegas GP gave positive signs. However, it was the 2024 Bahrain pre-season testing, which is where the team proved something substantial, as was evident from Vasseur’s comments.

“With the consistency and the race pace, the degradation that we had yesterday for the longest stint was on another planet compared to last year,” Vasseur told the media, before adding, “At least on this we’ve made a step, but now it is not just a matter of being consistent, but fast. The most important thing is to trust the guys because their feedback was positive and we have seen a lot of development for sure. I think Red Bull is still ahead, but let’s continue to push and see where we will be next week.”

With plenty of positive signs for the Maranello camp, let’s see how they capitalize on these developments over the course of the season. We’re definitely excited to see how big of a gap Ferrari can close before the next season. Are you?