Sky Sports F1 pundit Bernie Collins thinks the first Chinese Grand Prix since 2019 will ‘play to’ the ‘strengths’ of one team in 2024 and see them ‘close the gap’ to Red Bull.
Shanghai welcomes the travelling circus of Formula 1 back to the Jiading District for the first time in five years. Strict covid regulations in China stopped the pinnacle of motorsport from returning to the nation from 2020 to 2023. But Zhou Guanyu, finally, has his first home race.
The Chinese GP marks round five of the 2024 campaign which Red Bull and Max Verstappen have so far dominated. He has secured pole position at each of the opening four rounds and has sealed three wins. A brake issue denied Verstappen any chance to win the Australian GP.
Bernie Collins tips Ferrari to ‘close the gap’ to Red Bull at the Chinese GP
Verstappen started this season by taking pole position for the Bahrain GP by 0.228 seconds to Ferrari star Charles Leclerc. He also edged the Monegasque for pole at the Saudi Arabian GP by 0.319s and Carlos Sainz at the Australian GP by 0.270s before the Spaniard then won.
Red Bull also enjoyed a front-row lock-out at the Japanese GP with Sergio Perez only 0.066s slower than Verstappen’s time. Lando Norris had the third-best Q3 time for McLaren but he was 0.292s slower than the Dutchman’s run. It gives a team-to-team average gap of 0.277s.
READ MORE: The most successful drivers at the Formula 1 Chinese GP of all time
But Collins expects Ferrari will ‘close the gap’ to Red Bull at the Chinese GP as the Shanghai International Circuit should suit the SF-24. The former Aston Martin strategy engineer feels the 5.4km (3.3m) track will ‘play to Ferrari’s strengths’ more than a circuit has so far in 2024.
“It’s very, very different to Suzuka,” Collins told Sky Sports. “Japan only had, really, two slow-speed corners. Now, we’ve got mainly slow-speed corners and a lot of long straights.
“So, it’s going to be about straight-line speed of the car much, much more than what it had been previously and how good the cars are on that low speed.
“I think it will play to Ferrari’s strengths. There’s a chance that Ferrari will have closed the gap a little bit to Red Bull and, maybe, taken a little step away from McLaren.”
Why does the Shanghai International Circuit suit Ferrari in 2024?
Collins believes the Shanghai International Circuit will suit Ferrari in 2024 as the home of the Chinese GP only has long straights on the start-finish line and between Turns 13 and the T14 hairpin. Turns 13 and 7 are also the only true high-speed corners around the 5.4kms (3.3ms).
Even the ever-tightening Turn 1-2-3 sequence is deemed slow speed at 60 mph. Each high-speed section from Turns 3-6, 10-11, 13-14 and 16-1 is also followed up by a heavy braking zone. Suzuka’s only slow-speed turns are the Esses, the T11 hairpin and the T16-17 chicane.
The post ‘There’s a chance’: Collins thinks Chinese GP will ‘play to’ F1 team’s ‘strengths’, it’s not Red Bull appeared first on F1 Oversteer.