Our in-depth articles dedicated to the analysis of various aspects linked to the aerodynamic efficiency of the new ground effect single-seaters continue. We have often highlighted the impressive work done at Red Bull with the RB19, focusing on how the single-seater designed by Adrian Newey manages to have an enormous advantage when running with DRS open.
In the analysis made by f1datanalysis that we report to you today, the efficiency of the DRS of the various cars was compared by taking the telemetric data of the last round of the 2023 Formula 1 season, the Australian GP, evaluating the percentage reduction in drag when the mobile wing is open.
It is not unusual to confuse drag with aerodynamic load, in reality, as we explained in a previous article, they are two sides of the same coin, but the designers’ ability lies precisely in untying these two aspects, obtaining useful aerodynamic load in cornering without increasing too much harmful drag on the straights.
Here are the results of the analysis:
| Team (car) | Percentage drag reduction * |
| Aston Martin AMR23 | 23,6% (!) |
| Alpine A523 | 24,6% |
| Mercedes W14 | 25,9% |
| McLaren MCL60 | 28,8% |
| Williams FW45 | 31% |
| Alpha Tauri AT04 | 33,9% |
| Ferrari SF23 | 34,5% |
| Alfa Romeo C43 | 36,4% |
| Haas VF23 | 37,1% |
| Red Bull RB19 | 37,5% |
- tow effect is included for all teams
There are some aspects to highlight and at least one particularly relevant data concerning the Aston Martin car.
First of all we can say that all the teams have benefited from a more effective DRS in Australia than in Saudi Arabia, because here the wings are generally more loaded.
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In comparison with the Jeddah data, it emerges that the Alfa Romeo gained a lot of DRS effectiveness, while the Alpine lost quite a bit, even if its top speed was still excellent (unloaded wings).
Regarding more general considerations, the DRS efficiency parameter sees the general hierarchy among the top 4 teams in the standings remaining constant in the first three races: Aston Martin < Mercedes < Ferrari < Red Bull
The relevant fact to which we referred initially is that although the Aston Martin is among the worst single-seaters on the track when it comes to gaining speed with the DRS open, it easily manages to be the second fastest car in the World Championship, above all thanks to the high speed that the AMR23 manages to keep when cornering, a bit like Ferrari F1-75 car did in the first half of last season.
In this way Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll manage to protect themselves from the attacks by creating a good gap before the straights and also manage to take better care of the tyres.
The big difference between Mercedes and Red Bull instead was evident in the lap in which Max Verstappen overtook Lewis Hamilton using the DRS, not only for how easily it was for the Dutchman to overtake his opponent (with an almost 20km/h difference), but also in the overall lap time (over three seconds ahead for Max).
The Ferrari 2023, on the other hand, is in a “middle ground” made up of great compromises at the moment, between aerodynamic load and drag, between cornering speed and straight line speed, between flying lap performance and race pace, between overall performance and anticipated tire degradation. In Maranello, however, they seem sure of being able to extract the full potential from the project and of being able to use more advanced setups thanks to various updates that will arrive constantly in the next Formula 1 races.
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