Scuderia Ferrari’s lackluster performance in the British Grand Prix once again coincides with another dominant victory by the unstoppable Max Verstappen and Red Bull. While McLaren, having updated their car in recent weeks, forcefully enters the battle among the “other” teams and clearly emerges as the second force in the championship at the Silverstone circuit last weekend. The aforementioned Prancing Horse complicates an already difficult situation with an extra pit stop for Charles Leclerc, but perhaps this aspect is not the most important factor in assessing the Maranello team’s performance in the British Grand Prix.
Below are the available tire compounds before the race, providing a clear understanding of the dynamics that unfolded during the race. All drivers saved at least one set of new Hard tires and one set of new Medium tires, while most of the top teams neglected the red tire, having two sets of used Soft tires at their disposal.
The teams’ intentions in this regard are quite clear: to start the race with the yellow-banded Pirellis and then switch to the Hard compound, aiming for a single pit stop while keeping the option of a double stop open by utilizing a set of Soft tires.
For the start and the first stint, most of the leading drivers chose the Medium compound, except for George Russell, who opted for the red tire, believing that the extra grip provided by the compound would give him a better start. The British driver from Mercedes was very aggressive in the early laps, knowing that this advantage would diminish shortly.
In the initial run, the two McLarens held their ground against Red Bull, and Max struggled to build a comfortable gap. Charles Leclerc started to struggle with the Medium tire very early on, prompting the Ferrari driver to be the first to pit and switch to the Hard compound to extend the middle stint. On paper, an early pit stop attempting an undercut was expected to be more productive than the overcut strategy.
This was due to the tire degradation, especially on the front-left, which was expected to remain quite high. That being said, the expected tire consumption values were not met in the early laps, and the overcut increased the tire’s effectiveness on the track. Upon returning to the pits, car number 16 wanted to protect itself from George Russell by considering the Englishman within the Ferrari driver’s pit stop window.
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However, the Maranello team could have put pressure on the Englishman by pitting Carlos Sainz, who was immediately behind him, approximately 2 seconds back. However, the Spaniard seemed to be struggling less compared to his teammate, which is why they called back Charles. The Monegasque was asked to manage the tires significantly in the early laps with the Hard compound in order to preserve them until the finish line.
Obviously, this allowed the Mercedes strategists to consider an overcut for George Russell since they were running on similar lap times and the Ferrari driver was not gaining a significant advantage on the white tire. The Ferrari pit wall, most likely, reacted too quickly to the events on the track, compromising the first part of the race for the Italian car in question.
From the graph above, we can see that Charles Leclerc was not on the same level as those ahead of him, the two McLarens and Max Verstappen, but in line with the pace of those behind him. By keeping these drivers behind for several laps, he would have gained race time regardless. Furthermore, switching to the Hard tire was a futile move. Even though there was no indication of Mercedes’ pace, they had already ruled out this compound since Friday, for example.
On lap 27, Carlos Sainz also pitted to switch to the white-banded Pirelli tire, placing twelfth behind Lance Stroll and Charles Leclerc. Two laps later, it was George Russell’s turn, who had a great run on the Soft tire, discarding the use of the Hard tire. Mercedes’ pit wall timed it perfectly, and the British driver emerged between Charles Leclerc and Lance Stroll.
Ahead, the rest of the drivers continued their stint on the Medium compound, achieving very good lap times compared to those who chose to pit. Oscar Piastri started to struggle more around lap 30. As a result, the Woking team decided to bring him in and switch to the white-banded Pirelli tire.
Shortly after, on lap 33, Magnussen’s Haas stopped after turn 5, initially causing a yellow flag and then a Safety Car. Ferrari promptly reacted by calling Charles Leclerc back to pit for another set of Medium tires since the Hard compound was not working well at all after just 14 laps. There was too little grip available with this tire, to the extent that Mercedes based their strategy on avoiding this compound, as explained by F1 experts Alessandro Arcari and Niccoló Arnerich for FUnoanalisitecnica.
At the time of the Safety Car’s deployment, Max Verstappen, Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton also pitted. Hamilton, with a very long stint on the Medium tire, secured third place, overtaking Piastri’s McLaren. The track conditions showed a general lack of grip, which is why many drivers opted for the Soft tire.
Among them Max, the Hamilton and Alonso. To clarify, let’s look at the tire situation on lap 38, immediately after the end of the safety car period. The early pit stop by the red car explains the inability to fully understand the use and potential of each tire compound during the race.
After the restart, equipped with the Soft tire, the seven-time world champion battled Lando Norris on the harder compound. Max Verstappen complained about not having a good feeling with the Soft tire, perhaps because he pushed very hard on the first lap after the Safety Car returned to the pits. With this compound, Hamilton and Verstappen pushed hard towards the end of the race, while the drivers on the Medium/Hard strategy improved their pace as the laps went by.
In hindsight, McLaren’s choice to put the Hard tire on Norris may not have been too wrong. The British driver had to defend desperately in the early laps after the Safety Car, but then he had time to breathe and keep Lewis Hamilton under control, who overheated the tires too much in his attempts to overtake.
The gap of Ferrari in terms of race pace reappears at Silverstone. Let’s now observe the overall pace of the drivers throughout the course of the Grand Prix. Max Verstappen was the undisputed leader of the race, with the closest contender (Lando Norris) lapping an average of three tenths slower. Considering McLaren’s competitiveness until a few weeks ago, this is a result we could define as extraordinary.
Mercedes stands as the third force, averaging half a second behind per lap. Ferrari follows, approximately two tenths behind the all-black cars, with an average gap of seven tenths per lap to Red Bull in the British Grand Prix. After the race, Charles Leclerc explained that the car is still lacking in high-speed corners over the long distance. We didn’t hear many complaints on the radio regarding tire degradation, but the limited pace to contain it once again hampered performance. In terms of pure performance, therefore, at least at Silverstone, the red car still struggles over the long distance.
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