Ferrari managed to exploit one ‘technical aspect’ of their F1 car better than anyone else during the Monaco Grand Prix

Ferrari came away from the Monaco Grand Prix in slightly better shape than they had been in the last few F1 races.

Charles Leclerc was fastest in every practice session and while he missed out on pole and the win, it was encouraging that he could keep up with the McLarens on pace.

Lewis Hamilton also had the pace to break into the top three, although he had to come back from a three-place grid penalty for impeding Max Verstappen in qualifying.

Ferrari came into Monaco with low expectations, with Leclerc noting how the slow corners at the track were their main weaknesses.

But journalist Franco Nugnes believes that there is a technical aspect to their speed around the principality that might explain Leclerc’s pace throughout the weekend, when speaking on the Motorsport.it YouTube.

Ferrari could raise their ride height and not lose as much downforce as rivals in Monaco

It is true that the Ferrari suffers more than the other cars in the slow speed corners, as the SF-25 generates more understeer.

This is set to be more of a problem for their rival teams in Barcelona when the new front wing flex tests come into effect, although the impact will vary.

Ferrari did not bring any upgrades to their car in Monaco, instead bringing circuit-specific fittings, including their rear wing from 2024. Nugnes believes Leclerc’s speed can be explained by one simple technical trait the Ferrari has that rival teams don’t have.

“I believe that he drove above the value of the Ferrari and delivered a very important result. Especially for morale. But there is one technical aspect. For everyone to say the car doesn’t go well in slow corners, it’s very true. But in Monaco, you don’t have to run the car so low to obtain a result,” said Nugnes.

“Everyone had to raise the cars and lose downforce, so Ferrari is probably the one that lost the least. Demonstrating that if it were on par with everyone else, they would not be left behind in the way they have been.”

Ferrari missed out on using Lewis Hamilton to pressure Max Verstappen

Jolyon Palmer felt Ferrari missed out on using Hamilton in a way to pressure Max Verstappen at the end of the Monaco GP.

Verstappen had slowed down to put pressure on race leader Lando Norris from Leclerc, as the Ferrari driver chased him down for the win.

Norris eventually withstood the pressure by managing his tyres, before setting the fastest lap at the end of the race.

Palmer also felt that Norris’ rivals should not ignore how impressive his drive was in Monaco, which has now put him to within three points of Oscar Piastri in the championship.