Another race, one more instance where the Ferrari SF-23 doesn’t shine. A weekend that could and should have ended differently. An inaccurate tire management, too little, which limits the performance of the red car in Sector 2. The tire management was extremely challenging, and to top it off, Charles Leclerc’s premature retirement during the formation lap was the icing on the cake. A reliability issue that effectively ruined the Monegasque’s race when he was once again starting from an advantageous position: the front row.
After this brief intro about the Prancing Horse, before delving into our usual race analysis, let’s take a look at the tire strategy. We do this by examining the table summarizing the available tires for each driver before the race. It’s evident that almost everyone had a set of Hards and at least one new set of Mediums. However, the situation with Soft tires was different: some managed to save a new set for today [yesterday for the reader], while others only had used red-banded Pirellis.
For the start and the first stint, most of the teams chose to use the Soft compound. However, very few could use new tires since they only had one set for the entire race. The Ferrari team, with Leclerc, had sacrificed F1 Sprint qualifying to have an extra set of red tires, even compared to his teammate. However, as we know, Charles Leclerc didn’t even make it past the formation lap.
Brazilian GP 2023/Performance Analysis 1st stint: Ferrari SF-23 too concerned about tire wear?
Lando Norris had started with used red tires, but thanks to the initial red flag, he was able to switch to new tires, changing his strategy. The Englishman then showed a significant grip advantage over Max Verstappen from around lap 7-8. It’s worth mentioning that Lando and Max had the same quantity of new and used compounds, and Max could have used four fresh tires during the race.
Overall, the McLaren driver did an excellent job staying close to the Red Bull world champion, especially after his attack around lap 10. He kept within just over 2 seconds to have the opportunity for a different strategy as he approached the first pit stop.
At Ferrari, they tried to extend the life of the red tire as much as possible, managing it mainly in turns 2 and 11, sections of the Brazilian track where Pirelli tires were under maximum sustained stress, leading to increased temperature. This overheating negatively affected the tire’s performance and consequently the car’s performance.
Let’s try to quantify what we saw in the first stint. Lando Norris stayed on average within a tenth of Max Verstappen because, after his attempt to attack, his pace decreased, although he still managed to remain relatively close to Red Bull’s number 1. Fernando Alonso was over 3 tenths behind the Dutchman, even adding almost half a second per lap to Lewis Hamilton. Carlos Sainz, who was notably slower, was two tenths behind the Black King and nearly 1 second behind Red Bull’s fresh three-time world champion.
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Brazilian GP 2023/Performance Analysis 2nd stint: Ferrari SF-23 benefits from Medium tires
Lewis Hamilton entered the pits at lap 19, just after losing a position to Sergio Perez. The Englishman had pushed his W14 to the limit, trying to obstruct the Mexican when he was starting to lose rear grip. He opted for a new set of yellow tires, the only set he had available, gradually activating the tires to bring them up to temperature without excessive stress.
On the next lap, George Russell also pitted, using the only remaining new Medium tires. On the 21st lap, Sergio Perez, to defend against the undercut from the all-black cars, pitted. As he exited the pit lane, he followed the seven-time world champion, thus disrupting his team’s strategy, as the Ferrari SF-23 moved up a position.
From the graph above, you can see Lewis Hamilton’s undercut on Sergio Perez. Lewis stopped 1 lap earlier than Checo and then completed an aggressive outlap (lap 16), overtaking the former Racing Point driver, whose post-pit stop attack was about 5 tenths slower. However, from that point on, Sergio Perez had a significantly more competitive pace. During the first stint, the only remaining Ferrari in the race visibly struggled with pace. Car number 55 did not seem well-balanced, with a degree of oversteer on corner exit.
There were various steering inputs when Carlos Sainz hit the accelerator, indicating a lack of grip due to difficulty in finding the correct operating window for the tires. As a result, the Spanish driver followed Stroll’s Aston Martin, trying to extend the initial stint as much as possible. Carlos had used Soft tires that were already used, which certainly didn’t help his cause. However, around lap 25, the Spaniard began to set competitive lap times.
Drivers with the yellow tires had trouble staying under the 1:17.0s, while Sainz, on used Soft tires, managed to achieve that, gaining time on the Mercedes. This suggested a different strategy for both AMR23 cars, as they chose to extend the stint, allowing Stroll to exit the pit lane ahead of the German team’s drivers.
The Silverstone team decided to put on the new Medium tires, although they could have “bet” on the Hard tires. The Aston Martin’s tires were about 5 laps fresher than the W14’s tires. Carlos also took advantage of this tire advantage on the Mediums and managed to get quite close to the former silver cars. The SF-23 performed better on the Mediums, unlike the Mercedes, which took a step back.
The Medium tire, with a slightly wider operating window, allowed for better temperature management. Lewis Hamilton, after 15 laps, began to complain over the radio about difficulty with his car, as he lost the feeling from the previous stint. The same applied to his teammate, George Russell. As a result, Carlos Sainz quickly passed both of them.
In the graph above the previous paragraph, you can see the race pace from lap 30 to 40. You can notice that Carlos Sainz was significantly faster than the Mercedes, which couldn’t get the most out of the yellow-banded tires. After the next pit stop, both W14 cars started to gain pace, which led to Ferrari’s second pit stop for Carlos Sainz.
Max Verstappen and Lando Norris chose to pit on lap 27 for their tire change. For this reason, Lando couldn’t attempt an undercut to get closer to the Dutchman. Both opted for a new set of Medium tires.
In the second stint, the British McLaren driver managed to partially close the gap to the talent from Hasselt. This competitive situation was inadequate because Max was now comfortably managing the lead he had built up. Ferrari improved significantly, as we have already emphasized, managing to match the performance of Alonso’s Aston Martin. Strangely, the Mercedes cars remained about 5 tenths on average slower than the SF-23. Even Gasly was faster, keeping pace with car number 55.
We also take this opportunity to discuss tire degradation to better understand the differences between the first and second stint of the Ferrari. In the first part of the race, the red car had slightly lower tire wear, but its pace compared to competitors was significantly lower, especially compared to Alpha Tauri number 10. In the second part of the race, however, the SF-23 was faster than Alonso in the early laps and the Mercedes cars.
All of this once again underscores that the difference in pace largely arises from the Ferrari’s different tire management. It’s a pure change of pace unrelated to tire degradation, thanks to a different working range that favored the use of tires for the Ferrari, allowing all four tires to work correctly.
Brazilian GP 2023/Performance Analysis 3rd stint: Ferrari SF-23 Struggles on Soft Tires
At lap 47, Sergio Perez was the first to pit for his second tire change, attempting an undercut on Alonso, who had a 3.5-second advantage. The Mexican chose Soft tires to push during the outlap, but that wasn’t enough. Fernando stopped on the following lap and didn’t even have to defend his position when exiting the pits, as he could gradually activate his tires. The subsequent part of the race was characterized by the Alonso-Perez battle, which we summarize in the following graph.
The Spaniard managed the battery charge very well. By observing the trend lines, we can see that at the beginning of the battle, the Oviedo driver allowed the Mexican to get closer, trying not to stress the tires. Then, for the next 15 laps, he managed to keep Perez behind thanks to his initial tire management.
Hamilton also pitted at lap 48, but by then, his race was no longer against the Aston Martins. The British driver complained of a lack of pace and too much resistance on the straights, making it difficult to defend in the fast sections. For the final stint, Ferrari also chose the Soft tires, even though they struggled during the first stint. In the last few laps, the lighter SF-23 showed less delicate tire management.
Max Verstappen made his final pit stop on lap 57, also switching to the red tires, this time brand new. Norris delayed his pit stop by two more laps to see if a one-stop strategy was possible. At this point, Max quickly clarified the situation. The RB19 set an impressive stint, gaining only 1.2 seconds on Lando, who then stopped to switch to a set of used Soft tires for 3 laps.
In conclusion, let’s summarize the entire race. The graph below highlights today’s forces. Red Bull dominates as usual. However, in the overall Brazilian Grand Prix 2023, on average, McLaren is less than a tenth of a second behind the Austrian car.
Aston Martin is the third force, just 5 tenths behind the RB19, for various reasons. First, the Brazilian track is less “power-sensitive” than others, and the presence of medium-speed corners that require a good combination of downforce and mechanical grip has greatly favored the AMR23. Furthermore, the Silverstone team seems to have finally made progress in understanding the car.
The Ferrari SF-23 is the fourth force, 7 tenths behind car number 1. At least, looking at the bright side, the red car was faster than Mercedes. Between these two teams, Gasly’s Alpine sneaks in. The decline in performance of the German cars is due to a “simple” issue mentioned by Lewis Hamilton: an incorrect setup.
Source: Alessandro Arcari and Niccoló Arnerich for FUnoanalisitecnica
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