Ferrari seems more competitive in the race, but continues to show difficulties with the soft tyres in qualifying. Is the improvement real, or does it depend on tyre management, setup, and imposed pressures?
Opening question: Has Ferrari really gained performance, or is the improvement mainly due to strategy, tyre management, and race conditions? The difficulties with the soft tyres remain evident: in qualifying, Ferrari seems to struggle to bring them into the correct temperature and performance window, while in the race the pace appears more competitive and consistent. This raises a question: could the issue also be related to the minimum tyre pressures Ferrari is forced to run? Higher pressure can help long-run management but makes it more difficult to extract maximum grip over one lap. Has Ferrari found more real performance, or is it simply limiting its losses better in the race?
Tyre pressure could be part of the problem. Running higher pressures may protect the tyre over a long run, but reduces the margin for generating immediate qualifying grip.
An aerodynamic and mechanical compromise is also possible: a stable, tyre-friendly car in the race may be less effective when the soft tyre must deliver everything over one lap.
The most useful comparison is between the first flying lap and the following laps. If the time does not improve or the tyre drops too quickly, the issue is likely soft-tyre preparation, not only the car's absolute performance.
The soft-tyre difficulties suggest Ferrari struggles to build the perfect lap. In the race, the longer run allows the tyre to progressively reach its working window.