Ferrari struggles with tires at Spa-Francorchamps
The summer break hasn't changed everything for Ferrari: the Italian team is still having problems with its tires. As a result, they were unable to compete with the Red Bulls, or even the Force Indias.
For this Belgian Grand Prix, Ferrari made a very aggressive choice by deciding to take only one set of medium tires for each of its drivers but taking seven super softs and five softs. The Scuderia seems to have bet that the temperatures would be much lower than the 42°C the Belgian track experienced today.
Thus, when Kimi Räikkönen switched to the super soft tires, his lap times increased due to their lack of grip. The Finn was therefore somewhat disappointed with his day: « In the morning, I felt good in the car. But in the afternoon, when I switched to the super softs, I struggled to complete a full lap and kept going off track. During the long stint, we made a few changes but I was still having trouble. »
His best time in the afternoon (1:49.244) was thus slower than the one achieved during the first practice session (1:49.147). While he was third at the end of the morning, he had to settle for 7th place at the end of the day. Sebastian Vettel, on the other hand, at least had the satisfaction of moving up in the hierarchy, moving from 5th to 4th place in the session: « Today was a very complicated day. It was very hot for Spa and therefore very slippery. In general, everyone was struggling to keep the tires and was sliding a lot. »
Ferrari’s choice could therefore be very costly in their fight for second place in the championship, as Red Bull was able to secure a one-two during the afternoon session.
From our special correspondent at Spa-Francorchamps
