Mark Hughes on the difference between Ferrari and Red Bull’s approaches

After qualifying, Ferrari sporting director Laurent Mekis was asked if they were sure that betting on a higher level of downforce compared to Red Bull was the right decision? And then he only said that the Italian team has been doing this since the beginning of the season, because such an approach is more preferable for their car. And how this will affect the results of the French Grand Prix will only become clear after the finish.

Such F1-75 settings allowed Charles Leclerc to win pole position, but it is questionable whether the increased pressure will affect the wear of the front rubber, which at least works with increased load on the French circuit at Le Castellet.

Red Bull Racing has taken a very different approach, with Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez’s cars tuned for less downforce, allowing more speed on the straights, but not through the slow corners of the final lap.

According to Mark Hughes, an expert at The Race, Ferrari has had problems with front tire wear all season on those tracks where successful cornering depends on it. This applies first of all to the wheel which is located on the outside of the machine in relation to the direction of travel. This was one of the reasons that prevented Ferrari at Imola and Miami, and such a photo could be repeated at Silverstone, but external circumstances intervened: Verstappen’s car was damaged after hitting some debris.

Ferrari’s logic is clear: if you reduce downforce by decreasing the angle of attack of the wings, the front tires will slide more, which affects the degree of rubber granulation and wear. Last year in France, the Scuderia had a similar problem and it makes sense that the team is now trying to avoid a recurrence.

However, in addition to the problem of mechanical wear, there is such a phenomenon as thermal degradation of rubber. The “black magic” in working with tires comes precisely from correctly predicting which of the factors will dominate on a particular track and on a particular day, which is very important. Moreover, one can only guess before the start of the weekend, and the exact answer can sometimes only be obtained after the finish of the Grand Prix.

If the rubber overheats, structural changes in the tire begin. Red Bull knows this very well from their own experience: at that time, when Formula 1 switched only to Pirelli rubber, the cars of this team were distinguished by the ability to generate enormous downforce, thanks to the “blown” diffusers, and these pressure even had to be reduced to achieve more – less than normal tire performance.

Since then, Red Bull has primarily taken into account the properties of rubber’s behavior when developing their cars. But Ferrari, with their stronger pressure, manages to heat up the rubber more efficiently in one fast lap mode.

“It’s always a compromise,” Christian Horner, Milton Keynes team principal, admitted after qualifying. – Although we can’t say if Ferrari will struggle in long series of circles, or if they can handle it? What is the best way to get the correct lap time? It all depends on how the front tires will withstand the load in long, fast turns of the track, in the first sector, as well as in the 11th and 12th turns.

While it’s impossible to say for sure that Ferrari made a mistake, trying to find the best compromise between qualifying mode speed and race pace. But this cannot be ruled out. Perhaps Scuderia’s engineers managed to achieve such aerodynamic balance of the car while upgrading the underbody of the F1-75, reducing the risk of thermal degradation of rubber.

Red Bull Racing is also heavily improving its RB18, and today’s race will show which team has been able to find better answers to complex tyre-related questions. Features of the interaction of the car with rubber also affect the choice of tactics. If Ferrari starts having problems with the front tires, a two-stop schedule may be a lifesaver.

This is probably what Laurent Mekis had in mind when he said on Saturday: “We understand that our approach requires the right tactics and we need to think carefully about our actions to avoid getting hit during the race. It will become clear on Sunday to what extent that will work…”