2023 Scuderia Ferrari F1 Team

[f1316]

Another masterclass by Leclerc in the first stint ruined by an external factor (red flag). We had no chance of winning due to how bad the hard tyre was for the SF 23 of course.

Then they went for the hard even with the second standing start and 36 laps to go. They did 31 laps with full tank. They didn't have any new mediums but it would have been miles better than the new hards.

Another huge mistake and lost a P2.

This. And on his first lap out of the pits following his stop on new tyres, Charles was faster than Max, so Max wouldn’t have pulled a pitstop gap and would have had to have overtaken at the end (which be presumably would have done but could have been a bit more fun).

Even a used medium would surely have been worth trying after the red flag?

[Xyz22]

Charles said on post race that they're always slower - in relative terms - with the harder tyre this year because the car is "peaky"

Yup. This was the case with the SF 1000, SF 21 and the SF 90 as well.

Btw Charles also said he thinks that he had suspension damage in the second stint. Strange.

Also confirmed the mediums were much better.

[Spoutnik]

On another note. Sainz is now equal on points with Alonso.

[AR3-GP]

Charles said on post race that they're always slower - in relative terms - with the harder tyre this year because the car is "peaky"

Yup. This was the case with the SF 1000, SF 21 and the SF 90 as well.

Btw Charles also said he thinks that he had suspension damage in the second stint. Strange.

Front left suspension damage (from Perez) or rears? Haas had the failure in the rear with the same parts...

[Xyz22]

Charles said on post race that they're always slower - in relative terms - with the harder tyre this year because the car is "peaky"

Yup. This was the case with the SF 1000, SF 21 and the SF 90 as well.

Btw Charles also said he thinks that he had suspension damage in the second stint. Strange.

Front left suspension damage (from Perez) or rears? Haas had the failure in the rear with the same parts...

I have no idea. He said he thinks the suspension was not OK. I think he was talking about the front left

[jambuka]

Wtf ! Leclerc reporting to stewards for driving unsafe after collision ? It would be so unjust if he gets a penalty.

[Xyz22]

Wtf ! Leclerc reporting to stewards for driving unsafe after collision ? It would be so unjust if he gets a penalty.

There is no way.

No black and orange flag. No radio comms about it. Nothing.

[scuderiabrandon]

Wtf ! Leclerc reporting to stewards for driving unsafe after collision ? It would be so unjust if he gets a penalty.

unsafe condition, that was regarding the broken endplate.

They never waved black and orange flag so they can't penalize the team or the driver.

[Xyz22]

No penalty for Leclerc as expected.

His speed also is definitely back within the limits of the SF 23 of course.
The new floor probably helped him quite a bit.

Mexico has never been a strong track for him, yet he drove really well.

[AR3-GP]

They never waved black and orange flag so they can't penalize the team or the driver.

Penalty would be Leclerc's luck though

[JPower]

No it wasn't cooling. The hard tyres never worked.

Based on what?

Looking at the laptimes, Leclerc was closer to verstappen on mediums, than he was on hards. The car was suffering on the hards. Cooling does not account for it. He was in clean air after Hamilton got away.

Fred said they were not confident the used mediums would last to the end of the race. I'm inclined to believe him.

We've seen tires not work on these cars(see Hungary in 22 and 23). I don't think I can put today's performance on that level.

[AR3-GP]

Based on what?

Looking at the laptimes, Leclerc was closer to verstappen on mediums, than he was on hards. The car was suffering on the hards. Cooling does not account for it. He was in clean air after Hamilton got away.

Fred said they were not confident the used mediums would last to the end of the race. I'm inclined to believe him.

We've seen tires not work on these cars(see Hungary in 22 and 23). I don't think I can put today's performance on that level.

The worked for 31-32 laps on high fuel. I cannot agree that there was any reason to think they could not get to the end. In the end, you can see what Norris and Hamilton did. Maybe Sainz's deg spooked them.

In Austin, Leclerc had a good first stint and then they were too ambitious with the 1 stop. In Mexico, same thing, but this time too conservative.

[search]

The worked for 31-32 laps on high fuel. I cannot agree that there was any reason to think they could not get to the end. In the end, you can see what Norris and Hamilton did. Maybe Sainz's deg spooked them.

you were right when you brought it up during the red flag, yeah, but the hard tires looked great on Norris' and Tsunoda's car, pushing all the way. So I would still think there was reason to believe it was the better tire for such a long distance.

[Xyz22]

Brazil is the perfect place to take engine penalties.

They can exploit their capability of arriving with a good base setup for the sprint weekend. Quali won't be relevant as they will start from the back.
Sprint quali will be important as they could score important points in the sprint. Then they could change the setup based on the sprint data to improve the car for the race, by starting from the pitlane which won't be that different from starting last.

A red flag / SC at the right time could put the Team in a very good position. I think they could gain even up to 0.5s with a good race setup compared to the other teams.

[JPower]

The worked for 31-32 laps on high fuel. I cannot agree that there was any reason to think they could not get to the end. In the end, you can see what Norris and Hamilton did. Maybe Sainz's deg spooked them.

In Austin, Leclerc had a good first stint and then they were too ambitious with the 1 stop. In Mexico, same thing, but this time too conservative.

Those tires were new. Stands to reason they didn't think scrub set had the required tire life left.

Had they mounted the mediums and lost podium position, everyone across the F1 community would've called it yet another Ferrari strategic blunder, called for Leclerc to leave the team, and cried for yet another week.

Take the P3/P4 and get out of Dodge. Getting risky with this car in particular isn't worth it.