Areas where Ferrari SF-23 was faster than Red Bull RB19 at Sakhir circuit | 2023 Bahrain GP. The areas where Red Bull was slower than Ferrari in Bahrain.

The amazing lap time set by Max Verstappen in the qualifying session for the Bahrain Grand Prix at the Sakhir circuit the seemed to point out that the pace of the Red Bull RB18 car could not be matched by any rival during the full lap of the Bahrain International Circuit, which hosted the first round of the 2023 Formula 1 championship.

A detailed analysis of the telemetry data shows that it not completely true, given the fact that Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc proved to in fact be faster over several sections of the track. However, the Dutchman gained valuable lap time in some key sections of the 5.4km Sakhir circuit.

Despite the fact that several F1 tech experts or paddock insiders described the 2023 Aston Martin Formula 1 car as a copy of the RB19 (even Sergio Perez hinted at this by saying “it’s nice to have three Red Bull’s on the podium” following the Bahrain Grand Prix), in reality it is the Ferrari SF-23 car that replicates some of the key features of last season’s RB18 single-seater.

Where did Max Verstappen gain the most as compared to Charles?
We are now aware of that fact that Red Bull started the 2022 Formula 1 season with a car that was about 12kg overweight and much of its development programme was focused on getting close to the weight limit. On the other hand, the Maranello team’s car was in fact closer to the weight targets last year, choosing to work more on the engine power and reliability ahead of the 2023 F1 campaign.

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The telemetry data confirms the direction taken by the Italian side, as Charles Leclerc’s best lap in the final stages of qualifying compared to Max Verstappen’s best run highlights the fact that the SF-23 car was better on all the main straights around the Bahrain International Circuit – reaching a top speed of 298kph in the speed trap compared to 295kph for the Dutchman.

This situation was precisely the other way around during the previous championship, when the RB18 single-seater was the best on the straights compared to the F1-75, while Charles Leclerc recovered part of the gap in the high speed sections and on corner exit. The data collected from the Bahrain weekend shows that the downforce generated by the RB19 is the key area where Max Verstappen managed to gain most of the lap time against the Ferrari car, especially through the high speed Turn 7 and Turn 12. The Red Bull car has much better acceleration out of the difficult Turn 10 – a corner where drivers constantly lockup on entry, while the Monegasque recovered some of the deficit down the straight into Turn 11.

Max Verstappen was notably 10kph quicker into the braking zone of Turn 13, the downforce of the RB19 making the difference in this area of the Sakhir circuit, yet this is short-lived once the SF-23 uses its low-drag setup and superior acceleration into Turn 14. His acceleration onto the start/finish straight is 6kph faster but it’s not long before Charles Leclerc is able to go quicker just ahead of the final timing line. Unfortunately for the Maranello team, this isn’t enough to match the pace of Red Bull and the Italian side now has to find improvements with a solid in-season development process or it can hope of challenging the Austrian side only on tracks such as Monza or Spa-Francorchamps.