Scuderia Ferrari’s typical routine involves clinching pole positions on Saturdays, while Max Verstappen often seals the deal with a victory on Sundays. This narrative remained consistent between the Austin Grand Prix and the events which took place last in Mexico at the 4.304-kilometre Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City. The newly crowned three-time world champion displayed a notable mastery of race pace, even more pronounced than what we observed the prior week at the Circuit of the Americas.
In the start of the Mexican Grand Prix, the Dutchman surged ahead of the two Ferrari SF-23 cars, perhaps showing a bit of hesitancy towards the end before proceeding with his usual race strategy.
Following the restart after the red flag, he harnessed the true potential of his RB19, effectively managing his lead despite a tire disadvantage compared to Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes. Although an astute move by Hamilton allowed him to snatch the fastest lap on the final lap, it doesn’t diminish the domination of the “RB19-Verstappen” combination, which reasserted itself at the forefront in Mexico. Had it not been for the opening lap collision with Charles Leclerc, Sergio Perez might have contended for a podium position behind his teammate. The local hero squandered this opportunity by inadvertently driving over the Monegasque’s SF-23. During the initial braking maneuver, the Mexican was the only one among the three who did not leave adequate space. Red Bull missed out on a double podium finish, while Lewis Hamilton has now narrowed the gap to Checo to a mere 20 points ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix, which takes place next weekend.
Ferrari still manages to secure pole positions, but their triumphs, as seen in Singapore, are exceptions rather than the rule. Fred Vasseur appears to be seeking a greater degree of determination.
The scenario of Ferrari securing pole positions only to fall short of a win on race day has become all too familiar. In Mexico, there was even a front row occupied entirely by SF-23 cars, but their chances of clinching victory were dashed by a subpar start.
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Throughout the development of this Ferrari project, the team focused on fine-tuning the car to strike a balance between its qualifying and race performance. Their objective was to enhance aerodynamic stability and tire longevity. The performance gains achieved with the new tire compound, especially when the fuel tank is nearly empty, create a sweet spot that grants the car added grip. This compensates for the instability in load distribution required to maximize the potential of the aerodynamic platform. The primary aim is to expand this “sweet spot” with the 2024 car. The efforts of the team led by Enrico Cardile have partially mitigated the unpredictability of the SF-23 single-seater. However, the car remains a capricious figure that can’t be completely relied upon. The post-race debriefing was kept internal, with no technical meeting scheduled for this week with the engineers in Maranello.
Hence, the surprise of securing the top two spots in qualifying is a revelation, an unexpected feat. Both drivers extracted the utmost from their laps, nailing a very narrow performance window, while others failed to improve in the final attempts during Q3. Under race conditions, particularly with Charles Leclerc, the Ferrari demonstrated strong initial pace with the medium tires, despite sustaining a one-tenth damage to the front wing. The power unit still grappled with high-altitude temperatures, necessitating some lift-and-coast tactics. Nonetheless, the progress from the previous year was evident, with the 2022 F1-75 having to sacrifice 20 horsepower just to finish the race.
Hamilton has expressed a deeper connection with his Mercedes since the Austin floor upgrade.
Max Verstappen enjoyed a clear path to accelerate and quickly dashed the hopes of his pursuers. Even Lewis Hamilton, who also adopted an aggressive strategy by opting for the medium tires, failed to reel in the Dutchman in the long run.
The Ferrari engineering team harbored reservations about relying on the SF-23 for a more aggressive approach or strategic diversification. The Maranello car doesn’t excel in terms of tire management, nor does it rely on sheer luck. The intervention of the safety car and the red flag disrupted their initial plans. With added power, Charles Leclerc might have held off Hamilton, but only on an even tire footing.
With the assistance of DRS on the main straight, Max Verstappen overtook Sainz with a 29 km/h speed differential, while Hamilton managed to get past Leclerc with just a 20 km/h advantage. Both Ferraris exhibited weaknesses in traction during their respective incidents. With the 2024 car, Mercedes aims to recover an additional 10 km/h in efficiency from the top to satisfy Lewis Hamilton. The new floor introduced in Austin for the W14 substantially enhanced aerodynamic stability, especially benefiting Lewis Hamilton’s driving style.
The almost twenty-five seconds of delay that Charles Leclerc suffered at the finish line, despite the race restart due to the mid-race red flag, speaks volumes. Mercedes exhibited superior pace compared to Ferrari, as the engineers had anticipated since Friday. Even Russell, despite piloting a W14 that appeared sluggish in his hands, couldn’t challenge Carlos Sainz.
The elimination of Norris in Q1 might have (perhaps) cost McLaren a podium finish.
A notable absence among the front-runners was Lando Norris, who showcased superior race pace on hard tires compared to Ferrari and George Russell’s Mercedes. Once again, the English driver demonstrated his capacity to extract more performance during the race, especially in the final stints, compared to the less experienced Piastri. Lando’s resurgence underscores how McLaren paid a heavy price for their elimination during qualifying, snapping their streak of consecutive podiums.
The MCL60 continued to emphasize its strengths in Mexico, generating substantial downforce in fast corners despite the thin air. To enhance straight-line speed, the Woking team opted not to utilize the specific rear wing configuration seen at tracks like Monaco and Hungary. Instead, they employed a slightly spoon-shaped setup with elongated endplate extensions, as explained by F1 experts Rosario Giuliana and Giuliano Duchessa for formu1a.uno.
In contrast, Aston Martin seems to be navigating troubled waters, while Ricciardo is rediscovering his youthful form.
Aston Martin experienced one of the darkest weekends of the latter part of 2023, failing to replicate their Austin resurgence. The blending of components from the new floor with elements of the old, particularly a new diffuser paired with an older floor, failed to yield any performance improvement, exacerbated by the damage to Fernando Alonso’s car. This isn’t a straightforward technical challenge, as the AMR23 is no longer responsive to updates, resulting in significant time loss across all aspects of design and development. It almost appears as though the technical team needs to rebuild a solid foundation, a concept that was inconceivable until Miami.
The objective for the remainder of the season is to maximize every kilometer in the remaining sessions to gather data for the upcoming year and reestablish the correlation between on-track performance and simulations. Conversely, the performance trend of Alpha Tauri is on an upward trajectory, driven by the effectiveness of Red Bull-inspired upgrades and Daniel Ricciardo’s return to Faenza, which has injected fresh vigor into the team. The team has climbed out of the last place in the standings, and the Australian driver has nearly closed the gap to his teammate Yuki Tsunoda in the drivers’ standings within a single round of the Formula 1 championship.
