The overall result achieved by Scuderia Ferrari in the first American race of the 2023 Formula One season is worrying, even beyond the gap suffered from the uncatchable Red Bull cars. The fifth and seventh position at the finish line scored in the Miami Grand Prix do not give a clear idea of the main issue that affects the SF-23 single-seater. As in previous rounds, the Maranello car has been lacking in race pace. It’s not a new problem.
However, the performance downgrade offered by the red car at the Miami International Autodrome in Florida, USA race was not progressive, a physiological dynamic of cars that do not manage tire wear correctly. To offer a clear reading on the performance of Charles Leclerc, therefore, we have elaborated on the lap time readings, analyzing the Monegasque’s performance in each of the 57 laps, then compared them with those obtained by various competitors.
The graphic representation of this examination highlights a race pace characterized by continuous up and down moments, independent of the compound used and the amount of fuel loaded on board. A real puzzle for the Italian engineers, struggling with a car whose behavior is truly unpredictable in this early part of the 2023 Formula 1 racing campaign.
Miami GP 2023: Lap time analysis of Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari SF-23
The seventh position on the grid, a result of a forgettable qualifying session, certainly didn’t help the Ferrari driver in the early stages of the 2023 Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix. In the first stint on medium tires, the lap times of the number 16 car are undoubtedly incomprehensible. In the third and fourth laps, the Italian car set the nineteenth time on the lap, as did lap number 13. A mediocrity that forced the Monegasque to battle long with Kevin Magnussen’s Haas.
Once the Hard tyres were fitted (on the 17th lap), lap times continued to show irregular trends, although in line with the track position of the Monegasque driver. The maximum performance of the SF-23 was found after laps 30 and 32, where Charles managed to post times in line with those of the front runners.
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After this “surge,” lap times began to rise exponentially, and for about 10 laps, the talent from the Principality showed a slower pace than the top ten in terms of fast laps. The end of the race was agonizing, with Pierre Gasly’s Alpine reaching the Ferrari’s exhaust under the checkered flag.
The Ferrari is a “bipolar” car, capable of achieving respectable lap times, and at the same time, being among the slowest on the track without any evident technical or tyre degradation problems. A wild horse that disoriented Charles to the point of asking Xavi Marcos, his race engineer, to check the car after the race, hypothesizing some problems that were not detected by the numerous sensors located on the car, as explained by F1 expert Roberto Cecere for FUnoanalisitecnica.
Based on the lap time ranking for each lap, we can say that the Ferrari driver achieved a better result than the average lap time, which places him beyond the ninth position. The surprise on Charles Leclerc’s face, partly shared with Carlos Sainz at the end of the race, is therefore due to the volatile and inconsistent behavior of a car that performs differently lap after lap.
This dynamic has forced the drivers of the red single-seater to gradually adapt to a car with different reactions in the same corners over the course of the race. The good pace displayed by the Spaniard in the early stages of the Grand Prix somewhat contradicts the widespread opinion that the SF-23 is a project capable of only performing well in low-fuel conditions. This sensation was confirmed by the pace of Mercedes and Alpine in the final stages of the race.
In this sense, the podium achieved by Charles Leclerc in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was also secured with just a small margin ahead of Fernando Alonso’s AMR23, which may have needed a couple more laps to get the better of the talented driver in the SF-23 car. The difficulties of a technically flawed project can be resolved if well defined, whereas in the case of Ferrari in Miami, the drivers complained about the car’s balance being constantly different throughout the race.
The first corrections made to the floor presented in America did not have the desired effect, apparently. It seems that they even introduced further variables into the already complex design of the 675. The next races will be tests mainly regarding the understanding of the behavior of a single-seater that, last Sunday, did not offer the necessary confidence to the drivers who appeared to be almost passengers of an indecipherable car.
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