The Ferrari SF-23 cars fell short of securing second place in the constructors’ championship by 1.125 seconds. The deciding factor in the last 5 laps was Checo Perez, making a comeback with his RB19 but hindered by the penalty for the contact with Norris. Perez needed to overtake and surpass Russell by 5 seconds to “save” the Maranello team. However, the runner-up managed to stay ahead by only 3.975 seconds, not enough to allow the Scuderia to clinch the second position in the constructors’ championship.
Leclerc’s race was strong in its first part. The Monegasque driver managed to maintain the pace of Verstappen with the medium tire, even though Max was managing the race. The last two stints proved more challenging, where once again, the world champion demonstrated having the superior car in handling the Hard tires.
Furthermore, the poor qualifying performance and a strategy based on the “hope” for a Safety Car prevented Carlos Sainz from earning the points that would have allowed Ferrari to surpass the Mercedes. The degradation suffered at the end of the first stint cost the Spaniard a lot of time, forcing him into a less than ideal track position after the first pit stop.
Abu Dhabi GP 2023/1st stint: George Russell takes different trajectories to stay close to Oscar Piastri
Today’s analysis aims to understand the management of the car in the third sector by the top three drivers. Specifically, we will examine the fast laps of each third of the race. At the start, Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen, and George Russell were on the yellow tire, and in the fast lap of the first stint, Russell had the best speed before Turn 9, using the DRS of Oscar Piastri.
In the slow corners around the hotel, Russell took completely different trajectories compared to his opponents. George sought a delayed racing line, attempting to be as close as possible to McLaren’s driver number 81.
Source: FUnoanalisitecnica
Charles Leclerc, with his SF-23 at full fuel load, was closer to Max Verstappen in terms of speed in the slow section between Turn 12 and 14, sometimes achieving better traction than the RB19 number 1.
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Abu Dhabi GP 2023/2nd stint: Leclerc handles the hard tires well with the SF-23 and is the best in traction
In the second and final stint, all the top drivers used the C3 hard tire. In the fastest lap of the central part, Charles showed better traction at the exit of Turn 9, reaching a higher top speed before Turn 12. In the first of the 3 slow corners, the Monegasque driver preferred sacrificing the entry, anticipating the racing line and throttle input to mitigate the understeer issues of his SF-23.
Source: FUnoanalisitecnica
George Russell chose an opposite approach to Charles Leclerc, delaying the moment of touching the apex of the turn. This measure was taken to face the first change of direction with a more composed car. From the speed and accelerator graphs, it is noticeable that George is more effective between Turn 12 and 13 but lacks traction at the exit of 14.
Max Verstappen is the most “in control” and uses the brake before facing Turn 14 to slow down his car more. The downforce generated by his Red Bull RB19 also allows him to be the only one among the top drivers to maintain 100% throttle in tackling Turn 15.
Abu Dhabi GP 2023/3rd stint: Ferrari SF-23 number 16 performs significant fuel saving at the end of the race
The chart for the last part of the Abu Dhabi race provides an idea of who managed fuel better throughout the 58 laps. It can be observed that Charles Leclerc and, to a lesser extent, Max Verstappen release the throttle well before the turn for fuel saving. Charles, at Turns 9 and 12, lifts off the SF-23 accelerator about 70m before George Russell, using the car’s momentum.
Source: FUnoanalisitecnica
George Russell, fighting with Sergio Perez to maintain the second position on the podium, has better speeds at Turns 9 and 12. In the latter corner, his eagerness leads him to make a braking error, forcing him to delay getting back on the throttle.
Max Verstappen, with a lighter fuel load, demonstrates having more effective traction in the short straight sections. Although not the first to accelerate, Max manages to achieve a better speed delta in the corners from Turn 12 to the finish line.
Abu Dhabi GP 2023/Fuel Saving Analysis: Verstappen in management in the first stint, Leclerc maximized the Ferrari SF-23
The first interesting thing that stands out is how Verstappen in the first part of the race was in full management, “playing” with the gap to Leclerc. Charles, needing to contain Norris’s comeback and trying to take Max’s DRS, constantly demanded the maximum from his car and was forced to manage in the final part of the race.
Source: FUnoanalisitecnica
The fuel management by Lando Norris and George Russell was very consistent, maintaining savings values around the average. Carlos Sainz, on the other hand, sought the maximum in the middle of the race to contain, unsuccessfully, the comeback of Lewis Hamilton. Only after being overtaken did the Spaniard become conservative to finish the race, crossing the finish line without cutting the tires unnecessarily on the penultimate lap.
Source: Leonardo Pasqual and Alessandro Arcari for FUnoanalisitecnica
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