For this weekend, Pirelli had chosen the C1, C2, and C3 tires as the hard, medium, and soft compounds, respectively. The Italian manufacturer suggested a two-stop strategy, and indeed, most teams followed this approach. The uncertainty of rain was present throughout the 66 laps of the Grand Prix, with strategists prepared for any eventuality. Let’s take a look at the race pace comparison between the two Mercedes drivers and the two Ferrari drivers.
Race Pace for Mercedes and Ferrari: Medium tires don’t suit the SF-23
The comparison, with the same tire, can only be made between the two Mercedes drivers and Carlos Sainz for the first two stints, and between the two Ferrari drivers for the third stint. The Mercedes strategy involved using soft tires for the first and third stints, with a stint on mediums in between. Ferrari, on the other hand, opted for a soft tire for the first stint, medium for the second, and hard for the third for the home driver.
Charles Leclerc, starting from the pit lane, had a different strategy, starting with hard tires, then switching to soft, and finally back to hard.
In the first stint, we can see that the lap times on the red tires for George Russell, Lewis Hamilton, and Carlos Sainz are comparable, while Charles Leclerc on the white tires has consistently slower times than the other three, partly due to traffic and numerous overtakes he had to make.
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In the second stint, where the British drivers and the Spanish driver of the red car used yellow tires, we can see that the lap times of the two Mercedes drivers are significantly lower than those of the Ferrari driver. Carlos Sainz experienced high tire degradation during this phase, resulting in lap times almost a second slower than George Russell and Lewis Hamilton. Another thing to note is that the times of the Spanish driver are similar to those of the Monegasque driver, who was on the supposedly faster red tire, indicating that Charles Leclerc was also struggling.
In the final stint of the Spanish Grand Prix, we can see that both Mercedes drivers, on soft tires, have, on average, faster times compared to the Ferrari drivers on white tires. Carlos Sainz had a slightly better pace than his teammate.
Updates failed?
Scuderia Ferrari brought several updates this weekend that significantly changed the appearance of the SF-23 car. The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya was a good track to test these new upgrades and compare the data with the previous ones collected. The first outing of the SF-23 “EVO” did not particularly convince, and undoubtedly, the technicians at Maranello will have a lot to work on during this race-free week. We will see in Canada if there will be any improvements.
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