Red Bull is flying, Ferrari is trying to catch it. This, very briefly, is the scenario we will see at the Jeddah Corniche circuit, which hosts the second round of the 2023 Formula 1 season, the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The current state of confusion in the Ferrari Racing Division certainly does not make things easier. After the demotion of Iñaki Rueda and the departure of David Sanchez, other figures within the Maranello team seem to be afraid for their position. A situation which, inevitably, is creating a certain organizational disorder.
Not to mention the performance of the car. The SF-23 showed strange tire wear in Bahrain, maintaining a somewhat deficient pace. The problems related to the race pace were the subject of our in-depth analysis of Maranello’s latest aero-mechanical engineering work. Waiting to resolve the issue through some updates, all that remains is to maximize the current product.
Then there is the Aston Martin, a single-seater ready to fight. The AMR23 has proven its worth. The number 14, driven by the expert hands of Fernando Alonso, showed good performances in qualifying and excellent in the race. An all-round rival that cannot be considered as a simple one-off linked to the Sakhir circuit.
Finally Mercedes, a team that like Ferrari is in a clear emergency. The aerodynamic philosophy of the W14 is not convincing despite the corrections made to the now famous “zero pod” project. Nonetheless, the multi-award-winning team from Brackley does not raise the white flag and, on the contrary, continues to believe in the 2023 Formula 1 world championship.
Ferrari vs Red Bull: will the Italian side use its single-pillar rear wing again?
We now dive into the analysis by talking about downforce. In Jeddah, technicians and drivers will have to be very good at finding a perfect aerodynamic compromise that is very difficult to identify. Considering the various high-speed straights, the configuration of the cars will have to take full advantage of the top speed and, at the same time, be able to produce a good downforce between the two axles to gain lap time in the slow areas.
A more efficient car will have a wider setup window. In this respect, the floor of the Red Bull RB19 will be a great advantage, capable of generating a lot of downforce by delegating less downforce to the wings. Ferrari should test the single-pillar rear wing which the Italian side brought to the track at Sakhir, but was not able to collect valuble data due to some technical failures. It now remains to be seen whether it will still take some time to be understood and corrected before using it.
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This spec could help a lot at this track, as it combines medium downforce with lower overall drag than the previous version. In any case, it would not be strange to see additional L-shaped aerodynamic appendages on the wings. We are talking about small shims installed on the trailing edge of the flap, useful for increasing the vertical load with a “low cost” in terms of drag.
Another crucial factor concerns the front end. Finding the correct load to impose on the front will allow Ferrari to obtain the most suitable balance for the track. Understeer should be avoided through tuning. In Saudi Arabia, in fact, this phenomenon could greatly affect the lap time, which is why the optimal “care” of the front axle will be studied.
Ferrari vs Red Bull: SF-23 power unit will be a key factor
Once again the mechanical aspects will have to be at the service of aerodynamics. In Jeddah, stiffer structures will be proposed to stabilize the aerodynamic platform. The reason is simple: through this operation the “clean” load generated by the floor will be higher. It will be interesting to understand how Ferrari will act in this regard, bearing in mind that too much suspension stiffness in Bahrain negatively affected the balance, as explained by formu1a.uno.
From a handling point of view, good reactivity is needed at the front without penalizing the rear, however. Traction will indeed be essential. During the past season, the F1-75 managed to make the difference in the first sector, showing an excellent starting point coming out of the first chicane. From this point of view, the Ferrari is confident, because the SF-23 showed excellent qualities in the acceleration phase.
Overall we expect an improvement in terms of cornering from Ferrari. On the Bahrain track, in fact, it was precisely in these phases where Ferrari lost most of the time against Red Bull. Another strong point that the Ferrari technicians will have to exploit concerns the braking, considering the excellent longitudinal grip that emerged from the analyses.
From a purely power unit point of view, in the hope of avoiding further problems of related to reliability, the Ferrari power unit will be able to express its full value. Internal combustion unit propulsion added to the hybrid support which, in Jeddah, should guarantee a good advantage on in terms of lap time. Setting the energy recovery produced by the motions generated in the best possible way will be essential to spread the extra push over the course of the session.
However, Red Bull remains the favourite. The reigning world champion team will offer an unloaded set-up to recover something in terms of speed on the straight. Despite using a revised rear suspension, in fact, they remain second to Ferrari in terms of pure traction.
The RB19 is very strong when cornering thanks to a great front end. The advantages in this sense will be many, even in fast areas. It will be interesting to understand how the Milton Keynes single-seaters will handle the most important braking sections. In this respect, indeed, they seem to struggle slightly.
In Bahrain the Dutchman used the brake pedal much more gradually than Charles Leclerc. We’ll see if Verstappen’s interpretative style will be confirmed or not. Overall, however, we expect a very strong Red Bull considering that the lateral grip has a rather high specific weight.
Jeddah 2023: Pirelli tire management
As with any Grand Prix, compound administration will be essential: in Saudi Arabia the tires will be subjected to very high lateral forces, while longitudinal ones will be clearly lower. Overall, in fact, the various corners in succession present in Jeddah will contribute to the increase in internal temperatures. That’s why, reaching the ideal operating window will be quite simple.
During the 2022 Formula One championship, the Soft did not offer such a clear advantage over the Medium, as it had a softer structure which did not give the driver the right feeling. While the yellow Pirelli band compound allowed for better control of temperatures having an activation in terms of higher temperature. It remains to be seen whether the new tyres in 2023 will offer a similar scenario.
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