Scuderia Ferrari secures the front row in Las Vegas. An in-form SF-23, capable of decisively beating Red Bull without leaving any chance for the three-time world champion to get closer. The Prancing Horse managed to optimize the setup by “protecting” the front through a shift in balance towards the front end. As seen yesterday, this factor led to graining on the rear.
However, this precaution did not compromise traction phases, the true strength of the red car reestablished between yesterday and today, as we will see shortly. Ferrari continues to gain a gap precisely in acceleration, losing something in the entry phase, where the RB19 has shown to be significantly stronger. Overall, we note that the red car has found the optimal compromise, faster in almost all points of the track. In this sense, the graph of micro-sectors is very reliable, dividing the track into 100 segments.
Overall, the Italian car has found a lot of longitudinal grip and at low speeds. This result is also due to excellent tire management. The SF-23 adapted very well to the quite cool conditions of the track, confirming a certain sensitivity to high temperatures typically found in other scenarios. Compared to yesterday, Red Bull worked hard to optimize various ‘strategic’ points on the track, relying on simulations done in Milton Keynes.
Source: FUnoanalisitecnica
However, we can argue that the gap from the red car yesterday was composed only 40% by balance. The 60% of the delay resulted from an incorrect warm-up strategy. The front of the RB19 suffered because it often was below the optimal temperature of use, a “usual” negative factor given the very rigid front kinematics that limits the effects of load transfer. Useful in many aspects, it effectively takes energy away from the front end.
Las Vegas GP 2023: Ferrari excellent in S1, Red Bull adjusts its aim
The technicians from Milton Keynes maximized performance in turns 1 and 5, achieving a higher minimum speed in the middle of the turn. To do this, they shifted the balance forward to obtain convincing handling. This automatically resulted in greater agility in direction changes, such as at the 7-8 chicane. The braking phase also improved, limiting damage between turns 7 and 12, where braking is combined with a certain steering angle.
Source: FUnoanalisitecnica
We’re talking about a Red Bull that, as we’ll see shortly, analyzing the collected data thoroughly, performed better in a type of curve at higher speeds, where the RB19s can exploit the load from the bottom with a significantly more loaded aerodynamic configuration. Above, we find the direct comparison between the evolution of the gap from Leclerc, Verstappen, and Alonso between FP2 and qualifying.
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We see how Fernando’s track remained quite similar between yesterday and today, while Max’s track changed significantly. From the braking of turn 6 onwards, the Dutchman managed to minimize the gap, ending the lap much closer to the Ferrari cars. We must also note that in the points of the various braking, the RB19 has become very solid again in the entry phase.
Compared to yesterday, Ferrari made few changes to the setup, as specified earlier. However, the technicians managed to optimize the first sector, with both drivers being the fastest in this first section. Especially Charles Leclerc, who immediately built a very good lap. Fernando Alonso in S1 took a step back since yesterday, where he was the fastest in this section.
Source: FUnoanalisitecnica
In the second sector, the Italian cars confirmed themselves to be excellent, with the Monegasque gaining another tenth against his teammate. Verstappen in this instance was very close, but still lost almost two tenths compared to the #16 red car. Russell, like in the first sector, loses about 3 tenths.
In the last sector, it’s Carlos Sainz who dominates, benefiting from a powerful tow given by Alonso. Overall, however, he gains only 1 tenth compared to his teammate, and on the lap balance, it wasn’t enough. In this area, Mercedes turned out to be very fast, as in yesterday’s session, but the advantage they manage to shave off is not enough to compete with Ferrari and Red Bull.
Las Vegas GP 2023: Ferrari SF-23 dominates in all speed ranges
Observing the cornering performance of the cars through the graph above, we note that the two Ferraris dominated in low speed, with the red one confirming to have an excellent suspension group generating a lot of mechanical grip. Carlos Sainz had an average speed in the slow of 99.4 km/h, while Verstappen had 98.2. The difference is not much, and there has been an improvement compared to yesterday, but the differentiating factor at the end of the lap is undoubtedly the greater traction of the SF-23.
Source: FUnoanalisitecnica
In the medium-speed, Charles Leclerc was on average 1 point slower than Verstappen and Russell, while Carlos Sainz was 1 faster. There aren’t many stretches where we actually find fast corners in support, but we see that even in high-speed, the Ferrari fans have dominated. However, as mentioned, we must take into account that there are no supported corners, the true limit of the red car.
To summarize what was seen on the track today, let’s analyze the ‘real’ ranking, obtained by adding the best sectors per driver. We see that the Ferraris dominate, with Carlos Sainz close to Charles Leclerc. Max Verstappen follows, who, however, remained 5 tenths ‘ideal’ with George Russell immediately behind. Alpine found a lot of speed and was the fourth force, surpassing Aston Martin, which with Fernando Alonso came 6 tenths from pole position.
Source: FUnoanalisitecnica
Essentially, the AMR23 made no changes to the setup compared to yesterday, and on the straights, the two “green” cars seem to have suffered from a certain degree of clipping. The sixth force was Alfa Romeo, followed by Williams, both with a gap of 8-9 tenths.
Source: Alessandro Arcari and Niccolò Arnerich for FUnoanalisitecnica
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