2023 Scuderia Ferrari F1 Team

[f1316]

Only last Q3 run was on used softs. First was on a new set.

Anyway, RB speed with DRS is still absolutely insane. In the main straight before turn 1 Max was 11 km/h quicker than Leclerc.

In some ways isn’t this encouraging for Ferrari?

It won’t be good if Max is <1 sec behind in the race - I’m sure he’ll sail by - but if one of RB’s advantages is under DRS, which can be used during twice in quali and Leclerc still ended up faster, then on a normal (non-DRS) race lap wouldn’t this favour Ferrari? I.e. an advantage of RB’s is taken away.

One of RB advantages. The other (the main one) is that their car is so stable in race trim. The balance has been so much better than the Ferrari and you can see how easy is for Max to push safely without taking too many risks. Ferrari drivers need to be much more cautious in order to protect the tyres and in some cases, like Jeddah, the car was just extremely slow. The RB 18 and 19 reminds me of the Ferrari 2002 which wasn't unbeatable in qualifying, but it was in race trim.

Absolutely, it’s far from RB’s only advantage or even their main one. But you might argue that, without the stronger DRS effect (Peter Windsor showed that RB were gaining 4 kph additional over Ferrari under DRS), Ferrari’s (or rather Leclerc’s) one lap margin would have been greater (let’s say 3 tenths, rather than 2).

If that’s the case, that in principle might given them more of an offset against any tyre advantage RB may have. That said, you would imagine ferrari would be comparatively better on tyres (or less bad) if, as it appeared in Leclerc’s hands, the overall balance was better.

[PlatinumZealot]

If Leclerc can even challenge for the win I will be genuinely impressed. If he bags a 3rd place then well at least the potential to challenge is there.

[Vinlarr89]

Leclerc won’t be challenging for the win. RB race trim will still put them 0.5 ahead of Charles, but 3rd is realistic if he can manage the tyres. Hopefully the suspension changes coming will help maintain a better balance in race trim, as it’s clear the SF23 has pace, but at present only over 1 lap

[F1NAC]

Hopefully he can challenge for the win.. otherwise RIP pole to win ratio

[Vinlarr89]

Must be honest after watching quali this morning the Ferrari has much better traction than the RB. Could be an advantage in the race later & tomorrow….

[Xyz22]

Hopefully he can challenge for the win.. otherwise RIP pole to win ratio

That is long gone and is not Leclerc's fault.

Poor car performance, strategies and reliability are the main reasons his pole to win ratio is trash. I laugh when they compare him to Bottas considering that Lewis with the same car has won like 60 races, while Lec teammates have won only 1 race each (and Lec should have won both).

[CaribouBread]

The car has pace, the tyre deg still seems higher than ideal.

[Xyz22]

The car has pace, the tyre deg still seems higher than ideal.

They are linked.

Perez being this faster than Leclerc means that the RB is still miles ahead in terms of performance but i expected it.

Ferrari clearly has improved but the road is still very long.


Anyway in race trim the RB 19 is simply unreal. By far the fastest car in sector 2 plus 346 with the tow and DRS. Leclerc only 333 with DRS and tow. They need a miracle for next year.



Simply unreal difference and Leclerc is both faster and better at tyre management than Perez which really highlights the colossal gap at the moment. Still an improvement overall considering MB and AM.

[dialtone]

[f1316]

We must remember also that Red Bill brought upgrades here and Ferrari didn’t. Yes, there was damage to Max which essentially meant he could hold onto 2nd (otherwise I’m sure it would have been 3rd) but this performance step without adding anything new to the car is still impressive. There are supposedly multiple incremental updates to come in the subsequent races - including suspension which you suspect could be key - so this is looking much more optimistic than prior to the break. It’s much more status quo from end of 2022 rather than RB having surged clear.

[AR3-GP]

We must remember also that Red Bill brought upgrades here and Ferrari didn’t. Yes, there was damage to Max which essentially meant he could hold onto 2nd (otherwise I’m sure it would have been 3rd) but this performance step without adding anything new to the car is still impressive. There are supposedly multiple incremental updates to come in the subsequent races - including suspension which you suspect could be key - so this is looking much more optimistic than prior to the break. It’s much more status quo from end of 2022 rather than RB having surged clear.

Considering that it's a sprint weekend, it's hard to judge either team because they didn't get time to prepare the cars in the best way possible.

[Vanja #66]

There was an interview with Vasseur few days ago where he said they might maximise the car for Q since its very important for the race. Without the SC, Perez would have had a harder time catching and overtaking Leclerc. Its always a lottery in these tracks, RB19 is likely even faster over a lap than SF23 with all the upgrades so maximising Q and getting a good starting position is a decent strategy on this track, even at the cost of worse tyre wear. There will surely be an SC tomorrow, giving a chance for a free stop. Leclerc has to get a lucky break at some point.

[Alonsismo]

tomorrow, the best scenario (without any dnf) is a 3-4.
RB is unstoppable

[chrisc90]

I think Charles had good pace today. Certainly was near enough up there with the RB's.

Only concern I think Ferrari will have is the tyres. Charles started on a shiny medium, whilst RB's were on a used medium, which I presume was from the sprint shoot out.

The fact the newer medium dropped off way before the used soft on the RB leads me to think that come tomorrow Ferrari will have to be super careful on the tyres if they want to have a chance of fighting with Red Bull.

[vorticism]