Ferrari telemetry data: 2023 F1 Las Vegas pole position built on three crucial elements

Street circuit, low grip, long straights, aggressive braking, many slow corners, and a lightweight setup. As suspected, Las Vegas has proven to be a track capable of highlighting the strengths of the SF-23 and, more specifically, of Charles Leclerc, who has always had a special rapport with circuits where one must exploit the last centimeter before the barriers.

The cold temperatures of the environment and the asphalt were one of the main topics of the weekend. While on the long run, much attention was focused on the graining issue, qualifying highlighted how challenging it was to find that ideal window in tire utilization, precisely getting that extra grip from the tires that the track lacked. Some teams opted for a single hot lap, including Ferrari, while others chose to complete an additional lap before attempting to warm up the tires, such as Mercedes.

Different approaches, but overall, given the long straights, few high-energy fast corners, and low temperatures, making the tires work optimally was one of the keys to this qualifying. Each car is different, with its own characteristics and the level of load with which it performs best. “I think the most challenging thing was getting the tires in the right window. As soon as you were a bit out [of the window], you were far away in the first sector. That was the most challenging aspect of qualifying,” Charles Leclerc explained.

As observed in other races this season, on tracks where engineers manage to find a good operating window, the SF-23 shines. The low-downforce characteristics of this track, as well as the fact that the car tends to perform well in low-speed corners, like a mix between Monza and Singapore, allowed combining all the elements that led to an all-Red front row.

Before the race, the Ferrari drivers had expressed confidence, emphasizing, however, that there would be particular types of corners that could challenge the Maranello car, such as the 1-2-3 sequence and Turn 6 braking. This prediction did indeed materialize, albeit only partially, as qualifying for the Las Vegas Grand Prix showed that the tire preparation theme was more critical than certain characteristics of the car in the first sector.

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In fact, despite suffering from some understeer when trying to close turn one, especially compared to a Verstappen sacrificing trajectory to cut on exit, the SF-23 performed well. Confirmation of this is also Kevin Magnussen’s time with the Haas, another car that, in cold conditions, can warm up the tires very well but pays the price in the race.

Telemetric Qualifying Comparison for the Las Vegas GP, Leclerc – Verstappen. Source: Gianluca D’Alessandro

In the last attempt of the day, Charles Leclerc made a slight mistake in turn one, arriving slightly long, so much so that his reference in the first sector is higher not only than Carlos Sainz’s but also higher than what the Monegasque himself had recorded at the beginning of Q3. All this allowed the Spanish driver to arrive virtually at the top of the first split, while the three-time world champion from Red Bull achieved a time not far from what Charles Leclerc had set. The Mercedes suffered more noticeably: beyond specific difficulties in igniting the tires, the low-downforce setup favored the sliding of the rear, both in exit from turn one and in the trajectory of turn three. It is this excessive sliding that, in their case, led to pronounced graining on the long run.

Another theme to address is the braking force of the Red, which can be divided into two chapters: on the one hand, that in a straight line, like the braking of 4, 12, or 14; on the other hand, where a steering phase is also expected, where the front goes more into crisis, like turn 7. In those stretches where Charles Leclerc can brake with a straight car, an element that puts a lot of energy into the tires given the high speeds on the preceding straights, the Ferrari driver proves to be very effective, especially against Mercedes and Red Bull, while the comparison with Carlos Sainz is much more balanced. On the contrary, precisely in those areas where a precise front is required, the qualities of the RB19 emerge: not only does Verstappen brake very late at turn 7, but he is also able to maintain a more internal line on entry, reducing the distance covered.

After overcoming the tricky area where the “Sphere” frames the background, at that point, only two important braking points and three long straights remain. The issue of top speeds is another of those topics on which it is interesting to focus. On the first day, Ferrari had shown a significant advantage in terms of top speeds, so much so that in the Strip straight alone, Red Bull had lost over four tenths, with a gap that, before the DRS opened, had approached 7 km/h.

The choice of the Milton Keynes team to mount a higher-downforce wing also weighed: precisely for this reason, when the RB19 could open the DRS, the gap between the two teams narrowed. In fact, observing the references obtained from the other straights, it was noted that in those where the movable wing could be used, namely the section leaving turn three, Red Bull was close to Ferrari, while on the final one, where it was not possible to open the flap, the SF-23 regained a significant advantage.

On this front, the references changed on Saturday, especially with Red Bull’s choice to switch to a lighter rear wing: the mainplane remained the same, while what changed was the DRS flap, cut to reduce resistance (visible in the previous comparison). A choice partly due to the awareness that it would be challenging to beat Charles Leclerc on a single lap, so more top speed was needed for the race: although it is true that better tire management can make a difference, on the other hand, the track is still quite dirty and not rubberized outside the ideal trajectory, making it more challenging to make a difference by following different lines in the guided stretch.

On the one hand, this brought the RB19 closer with a closed wing, while on the other hand, it reduced the gap between the two teams with the flap open. Overall, it can be observed that in the first part of the Strip, the gap of the Milton Keynes team has significantly decreased compared to the day before, bringing the rivals closer, although not managing to completely nullify it, as evidenced in the final part of the lap on the other straight where it is not possible to use the DRS.

Telemetric Qualifying Comparison for the Las Vegas GP, Leclerc – Russell. Source: Gianluca D’Alessandro

On a circuit that requires such a lightweight setup, the aerodynamic efficiency qualities of the RB19 did not emerge as sharply as they generally do on higher load values, as on other tracks. From this point of view, the extreme choice is that of Mercedes, which in Las Vegas has made the straights its strength due to an extremely lightweight setup, one of the most aggressive on the grid to compensate for their resistance problems. If you look at the references on the Strip’s stretch, you can see how Russell indeed gains about a tenth compared to Charles Leclerc, but suffers in the rest of the lap, especially in the slow sections where more mechanical grip is sought.

In view of the race, teams fear not so much pure wear because, in reality, all tire compounds have shown minimal degradation, but graining. With such long straights, very violent braking, and many slow corners that stress the rear, the risk is that this phenomenon will be triggered, further removing grip on a track that already offers little adherence. In free practice, this aspect appeared on all cars, especially on the soft compound, which offers less flexibility. Many teams worked overnight to make progress on this aspect, and the demonstration that several teams performed a long run during FP3 is evidence that they were still trying to assess the latest changes.