Average straight-line speed – Charles Leclerc vs Max Verstappen | 2022 F1 Miami GP. Average straight-line speed.

A dataset of 43 laps for Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen, the same laps for both of them. Each of these laps contained information about speed, and distance travelled, among other variables. The average speed of each driver at different distances—in this case, every 100 meters—on the main straight. This data represents the average speed over 43 representative laps with no DRS activated for each of the two drivers previously mentioned.

Both Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen were evenly matched on the main straight at the Miami International Autodrome. Yet, there are some small but important differences between them, as explained by f1pace.com

First, you can see how the RB18 car carried more speed at the beginning of the straight. From the start of the straight until metre 200, Max had a higher average speed than Charles. From the 200 to 700 metres interval, both the F1-75 and the RB18 were fairly evenly matched, with the delta between both drivers averaging around half a kilometre per hour. It isn’t until the end of the straight—after 900 metres—that we see a marked difference between both cars.

What happens after 900 metres? Red Bull was considerably faster than the Ferrari F1-75 car. Take a look at the speed at both 1000 and 1100 metres. The delta increased to over 2 km/h. While this difference may not seem massive, it is very important.

Both speed curves follow a very similar path, and the F1-75 seems to lose performance when compared to the Red Bull only in the final 200 meters, not before. Because of this, one cause believe that this delta is caused by a different battery-deployment program. This is pure speculation however.

Max Verstappen and his Red Bull RB18 had a small but powerful advantage on the straight Miami International Autodrome based on this data when making a comparison to Charles Leclerc and his Ferrari F1-75. 2 km/h may not seem like much but considering that the end of the straight is the place where most overtakes occur, it meant that the Monegasque driver never had a real opportunity of getting close enough to the Dutchman in order to try and attack his title rival in Miami.