The Jeddah Corniche circuit hosted the second round of the 2023 Formula 1 championship in Saudi Arabia last Sunday, with Red Bull once again dominant, as Sergio Perez led home a Red Bull one-two. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso secured another podium finish following his post race 10-second penalty that was eventually removed.
Grand Prix editor for Motor Sport magazine Mark Hughes, who is also a Special Contributor for the Formula 1 official website, answered some questions from the fans, with one week ahead of the next round of the 2023 Formula 1 season.:
Q: What’s going on with Ferrari? I expected them to be title contenders this year but they are looking worse than in 2022.
A: (Mark Hughes, Special Contributor): “The goalposts have been moved by Red Bull. In Bahrain the Ferrari was a faster car than last year’s despite regulation changes which should have slowed it. But the Red Bull was faster than the year before by a bigger margin. In Jeddah the Ferrari was slower than last year, but the Red Bull was about the same. Red Bull has just made massively bigger gains than anyone else. It’s the old F1 story – advances are only advances if they are bigger than those of your rivals. You only get to find out when you all get out on track together.”
Q: How could Max Verstappen finish second from 15th at Jeddah. How good is the Red Bull RB19 and why?
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A: (Mark Hughes, Special Contributor): “The car is incredibly fast and has at least 1 second per lap on the best non-Red Bull. Furthermore, it is exceptionally fast with the DRS deployed, so making it easier for Max to overtake on one of the better tracks for passing. The slower cars between him and Perez were quite easy meat for him. Regarding his gap to Perez, the Safety Car cancelled about 18s of the 21s he’d been behind Perez – so there was effectively a re-set. That was hugely significant. As to why the car is so fast – it’s all the reasons of last year’s plus an even wider window between braking stability and direction change and a more effective DRS. That all comes from the fact that the team has a more sophisticated understanding of underfloor aerodynamics than anyone else. I’ll explain more in the next Tech Tuesday, but this week’s piece also shines a light on a crucial area of the car.”
