Ferrari came close to victory in Las Vegas. The triumph of the SF-23 was indeed possible. Unfortunately, once again, a Red Bull crossed the finish line first, securing the 20th triumph of the season. This marks the greatest dominant condition in the history of F1. Credit goes to the RB19 and, above all, the skilled hands of Max Verstappen, an outstanding performer in a truly lethal car. Despite a brilliant move on the last lap that secured him the second step of the podium, Leclerc could do nothing to prevent Red Bull’s victory.
Sergio Perez, the third-place finisher, despite the assistance of the Safety Car, couldn’t maintain the lead over his teammate and eventually had to yield to the splendid overtaking move by the Ferrari driver. In contrast, a struggling Mercedes did what it could, with both W14 cars finishing behind Carlos Sainz’s red car after the first lap. Only 4 points separate the two teams in the constructor’s standings.
Las Vegas GP 2023/Performance Analysis: Ferrari SF-23 loses only to Verstappen
Let’s begin the analysis of today’s race by presenting the usual table related to the available tire sets for each driver. This will make it much easier to understand some strategic choices made by the teams, not always dictated solely by the performance of one tire compound over another.
Source: FUnoanalisitecnica
We can easily see that almost all teams had at least two sets of new Hards and Mediums available. This reveals, even before the start, the clear possibility of making two stints with the white-banded Pirelli and only one with the medium compounds.
Las Vegas GP 2023/Performance Analysis 1st stint: Ferrari SF-23 dominates, delaying the effects of graining
For the start and the initial part of the race, most drivers chose the medium tire, a compound extensively used and studied during Friday’s free practice sessions. Although Virtual and Safety Cars made appearances in the early laps, few opted to make a pit stop. Among them was Carlos Sainz, who, after contact with Lewis Hamilton at the start, decided to immediately try the white compound to extend the first stint as much as possible.
During this phase, Charles Leclerc stayed very close to Verstappen, who later received a 5-second penalty for a maneuver in a corner involving Charles. The Monegasque managed to stay within 2 seconds of the lead, and when Max suffered from graining, Charles Leclerc could attack. A few laps later, the Ferrari driver experienced the same phenomenon at the rear, as observed during Friday’s free practice.
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Source: FUnoanalisitecnica
Attempting to quantify what was seen in the first stint, it’s evident that Charles Leclerc was significantly the fastest, a rarity in recent times. Verstappen stayed, on average, 0.2 seconds per lap behind SF-23 number 16. The two essentially had their own race, at least for the first part.
Fitting the Medium tires, Ferrari clearly made a difference compared to other teams, managing to delay the graining phase. This was due to the car’s good adaptation to these tires and, at the same time, excellent work by the Maranello team in perfectly activating the compounds.
Las Vegas GP 2023/Performance Analysis 2nd stint: Ferrari chooses to stay on track, the correct choice
The first among the front-runners to make a pit stop was Russell, switching to the Hard compound, relying on data from Hamilton’s W13, which, starting from a lower position, opted for a more durable compound. This tire worked very well on the Mercedes. Max, on the other hand, stopped on lap 16, right after being overtaken by Charles Leclerc. For him, a set of Pirelli with white bands, a cover that requires a few laps to reach the right temperature.
The Ferrari driver had a 5-second margin due to the penalty imposed on car number 1, allowing him to delay the pit stop and extend the stint by a few laps. Charles Leclerc decided to pit on lap 20, choosing the Hard compound, maintaining an advantage of about 5 seconds over the Russell-Verstappen pair at the pit lane exit. Everything changed around lap 26 when George touched Verstappen, causing the dispersion of debris on the track, leading to the second Safety Car of the race.
Many benefited from this situation. For example, Sergio Perez found himself behind Charles Leclerc, rejoining the fight for victory, while Max gained a new tire, although he lost a few positions. The Dutchman executed a recovery on the Ferrari driver, who, listening to the pit wall, chose not to pit. At the time of the Safety Car, the Monegasque driver was in the lead, and the decision was made to keep the lead rather than stop, having to then make up for the gap on the track.
At that moment, with two cars available, Red Bull could have split the strategy, perhaps with Max staying out and Perez stopping. Similarly, everyone could have pitted while maintaining the positions unchanged, with Leclerc still in the lead with the second set of new Hards still available. However, Ferrari’s choice can be considered correct, considering that the delay on the first tire change allowed them to reach the end of the race because, as mentioned, their tires were in good condition.
Source: FUnoanalisitecnica
In the subsequent laps, the hunt by Red Bull began, rightly gambling everything by providing the drivers with a new tire. Around lap 41, Charles Leclerc experienced more significant graining on the Hards compared to Max Verstappen, a factor that resulted in a reduction in grip, making it challenging to defend against the RB19s.
Source: FUnoanalisitecnica
In the previous graph, we see the evolution of lap times between Leclerc and Verstappen. As we can easily observe, the Monegasque driver lost the lead during the second half of the race. Even if he had tires 5 laps fresher, he couldn’t have done anything against the Red Bull’s dominance, as this factor wouldn’t have spared the SF-23 from suffering graining before the end of the race.
Above, we find the data related to the stint after the Safety Car, for simplicity of analysis. Leclerc and Verstappen are still the fastest on the track, with Carlos Sainz and Stroll on the Hards circulating at an average of about 4 tenths behind the aforementioned drivers. Hamilton’s stint is also similar; initially, he had to make several overtakes, and only later, with a clear track, did he achieve a very good pace, managing to finish ahead of his teammate.
Source: FUnoanalisitecnica
In global terms, we see that Verstappen was 0.2 seconds faster than Charles Leclerc, while the third fastest was Hamilton. Therefore, Mercedes, at least on paper, could have confirmed itself as the third force if Esteban Ocon hadn’t exploited the Safety Car well, pitting at the right time to gain a considerable race time that the W14 number 44 couldn’t recover. Stroll’s Aston Martin is the fifth force, followed by Carlos Sainz’s SF-23. The Spaniard indeed had to face a challenging race, managing to be competitive only intermittently.
Source: Alessandro Arcari and Niccolò Arnerich for FUnoanalisitecnica
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