2023 Spanish Grand Prix - Catalunya, June 02 - 04

[AMG.Tzan]

So satisfying having a Grand Prix just one week after the other! I’m waiting to see cars around the last two corners! Do you expect them to be flat out through both of them??

All teams seem to have brought high downforce rear wings which looks a bit baffling considering the big main straight and the last two corners being way faster which means top speed at the main straight will also be critical!

[Just_a_fan]

The cars will be accelerating / flat from T10 to the finish line. More rear downforce means more speed in those high speed corners. More speed in those corners means anyone looking to have a high top speed will be left behind in the run from T10 and thus unlikely to be able to benefit by the end of the straight anyway. Add in T4 and T9 benefitting from more downforce, and the move towards more makes sense.

[Silent Storm]

The cars will be accelerating / flat from T10 to the finish line. More rear downforce means more speed in those high speed corners. More speed in those corners means anyone looking to have a high top speed will be left behind in the run from T10 and thus unlikely to be able to benefit by the end of the straight anyway. Add in T4 and T9 benefitting from more downforce, and the move towards more makes sense.

Excellent point. The following car will have to lift a bit more than usual in dirty air even in these new regulations.
High downforce RW offers better braking stability/late braking at turn 1 if there's a need to defend.
I expect top 4 teams to stick to high downforce RW.

[langedweil]

Any pics if RB is aiming for the single beamwing ?

[organic]

Any pics if RB is aiming for the single beamwing ?

Full Monaco config

https://www.autosport.com/f1/photos/red ... /66400447/

[search]

Perez will be hoping the rain stays away as it will just increase the performance gap to Max.

not sure it makes too much of a difference. It's not really the type of track where he can usually keep up with Verstappen in the dry either.

[langedweil]

Any pics if RB is aiming for the single beamwing ?

Full Monaco config

https://www.autosport.com/f1/photos/red ... /66400447/

Thnx !
Couldn't find a proper view ..

[F1Krof]

With that last chicane out of the way, is anybody seriously thinking that any other team has a chance against RBR?

[Cassius]

With that last chicane out of the way, is anybody seriously thinking that any other team has a chance against RBR?

I expect Mercedes to be close. They were already good last year and in Australia they were very competitive vs RB. Front limited flat surface tracks suit them. Their upgrades will make the car more stabile under braking.They still have one of the best cars in terms of tyre deg.

[search]

With that last chicane out of the way, is anybody seriously thinking that any other team has a chance against RBR?

I expect Mercedes to be close. They were already good last year and in Australia they were very competitive vs RB. Front limited flat surface tracks suit them.

the upgrade is supposed to change that (according to AmuS), but so far it was actually the other way around. This season the Mercedes was much more competitive when others couldn't run as low as they wanted to (like in Melbourne)

[mendis]

With that last chicane out of the way, is anybody seriously thinking that any other team has a chance against RBR?

I expect Mercedes to be close. They were already good last year and in Australia they were very competitive vs RB. Front limited flat surface tracks suit them.

the upgrade is supposed to change that (according to AmuS), but so far it was actually the other way around. This season the Mercedes was much more competitive when others couldn't run as low as they wanted to (like in Melbourne)

The car has changed drastically from last year to this and from Melbourne to Spain this year. Could they have carried the strengths of the past? Time will tell, but I won't bet on it. Ferrari bottled it last year with reliability issues when Charles was cruising for a win. Can they get back up again with all their upgrades? We would see. Aston is a different car altogether this year with Alonso. So even if Mercedes has made progress, they still have Ferraris and Alonso to contend with and move past.

[search]

The car has changed drastically from last year to this and from Melbourne to Spain this year. Could they have carried the strengths of the past? Time will tell, but I won't bet on it.

Aston Martin managed to, I would say. Although on a lower level, they were kinda in the same boat as Mercedes last year: both couldn't turn on the tyres, and were consequently poor in Qualifying, but strong in the race, especially when tyre wear came into play.

Aston has kept its race superiority, but did improve in Qualifying. The Mercedes instead looks quite "average" in all regards to me so far. Will be interesting to see indeed, if the upgrade brings back some of the old strengths. It didn't really look like in Monaco, though, where their tyre wear was fairly high.

[AR3-GP]

Big lifts in the final corner.

[AR3-GP]

Verstappen very small lift on the medium tire in the final corner. They'll be flat in qualifying.

[chrisc90]

Yeah, I watched the max onboard and lifted for a fraction.

Easily flat in the last corner when they wind it up.

Might be but different with higher power of course.

Oh - new PU in the RB of max too