Telemetry data analysis of the best lap times set by Scuderia Ferrari Spanish driver Carlos Sainz, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez in the 2023 Formula 1 pre-season testing session which was held at the Bahrain International Circuit:
How do Scuderia Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes compare over a full lap of the Bahrain International Circuit, based on the data collected by F1DataAnalysis from testing? The Maranello team clearly is the car with the best straight-line speed and the worst cornering grip! (lower lateral acceleration). The braking was solid, though (high negative longitudinal acceleration).
Red Bull was quick everywhere. Ferrari’s braking was impressive, using the less loaded rear wing by far too! They should gain braking stability and performance once they bolt on a more appropriate wing. Mercedes has excellent braking as well, but that was using a very loaded wing.
Let’s take a look at turns 11-12(flat out)-13: Lewis Hamilton was the fastest, he gained marginally (0.03s) on both Sergio Perez and the SF-23 car of Carlos Sainz. However, the three cars were extremely close. The Ferrari man benefitted from the reduced drag of his car, but that hurt him concerning lateral grip. The Mercedes driver was fastest in corner 11, the Mexican in corner 13
Here we analyze the lateral and longitudinal acceleration together. What stands out is the overall grip shown by Ferrari despite their skinny rear wing: the SF-23 car is able to generate quite a lot of baseline downforce, while the Red Bull RB19 had similar grip to the Mercedes but a better top speed!
Carlos Sainz’s braking in the Ferrari SF-23 car was impressive, using the less loaded rear wing by far too! The Italian side should gain braking stability and performance once the team bolts on a more appropriate wing. Mercedes has excellent braking as well, but that was using a very loaded wing.
In turn 1, Sergio Perez gained 0.05s against Lewis Hamilton, who instead was 0.11s faster than Carlos Sainz. The Mercedes man had the lowest speed in the previous straight, so he could brake the latest. Carlos Sainz had the best top speed, and he was also able to go full-throttle again the soonest: his speed in the following straight was consistently highest
As we can see from the graph above, Red Bull was also the best car in the fast corners during the final day of 2023 Formula 1 pre-season testing session in Bahrain, but less so than on day 2. The car can produce more downforce than the Mercedes despite running a less loaded wing! Mercedes’ cornering in slow-medium speed corners was good, while Scuderia Ferrari needs improvement ahead of next weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix.
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