In Saudi Arabia, Red Bull had no real challengers. Sergio Perez did not miss the opportunity to take an easy victory while Max Verstappen, despite starting on the eighth row at the Jeddah Corniche circuit due to a technical failure in qualifying on Saturday, had only the obstacle of his teammate between him and the top spot on the podium. Fernando Alonso got off to a better start than Sergio Perez but soon – apart from the penalties – the order of things was restored following the entry of the safety car, which in this particular case was not actually necessary, but something rather expected in Jeddah.
Another disappointing display of performance for Ferrari, which was only the fourth force, as even the ‘wrong’ Mercedes W14 was able to stay ahead of the Maranello team.
Ferrari doubts: Aston Martin and Mercedes more consistent, the SF-23 in the race has a gap 4-5 times more than in qualifying
The RB19 also pulverized the competition in Arabia, reiterating that currently it’s not just a matter of details between the car of the reigning champion team and the others. “The ability to generate a lot of downforce at all speeds and in all types of corners, technical and otherwise, is impressive. When we finish rotating, they are already accelerating. We have to compromise an area of the track in favor of balance, we have to. They can run without major compromises.” – confided an opposing engineer for formu1a.uno.
Clearly the Austrian side has made a step forward compared to the already successful RB18, a substantial one and nobody really seems able to challenge them, at least in the short term.
Show your support for Scuderia Ferrari with official merchandise collection! Click here to enter the F1 online Store and shop securely! And also get your F1 tickets for every race with VIP hospitality and unparalleled insider access. Click here for the best offers to support Charles and Carlos from the track!
Ferrari thought they could be closer than in Bahrain given the low risk of tire degradation should have put them in a better position to express the full potential of the SF-23. In Saudi Arabia, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz could push quite calmly, in fact without worrying about tire saving, with the true performance of the cars coming out more clearly. Then there was a smoother asphalt which suggested less limiting conditions to balance the SF-23. Unfortunately, for the Maranello team the gap has surprisingly widened (an unexpected scenario even for the Maranello team members themselves) leading to further questions, with the SF-23 simply being slow.
The technicians came to terms with reality, brutally discovering through the inexcusable judgment of the track that the car is much slower than expected – despite the power recovered – in two circuits with opposite configurations. At the moment they are not yet able to give definitive answers to the many problems seen in the race.
For now, the SF-23 can only be reasonably competitive in qualifying conditions, when the softer compounds make up for the lack of downforce with more grip – and a rear that moves more. For better or for worse, the excellent Aston Martin and the Mercedes are pretty consistent over the weekend, while it’s extremely difficult to understand how it is possible for the red car to show a four or five times greater gap on Sunday than on Saturday.
Leave a Reply