Seeing a competitive Ferrari in such situations shouldn’t be a surprise anymore. And yet, what is most concerning at the moment is to witness the wonder in the eyes and voices of the representatives of the Prancing Horse, both when things go well, like last weekend at the 7.004-kilometre Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Stavelot, Belgium, and when they take a downturn, as was the case in Silverstone and Hungary.
Let’s proceed with a recap of the strategies seen during the 2023 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
Recap of the strategies
On Sunday morning, we were fairly certain that the race would involve two-stop strategies (read here). The uncertainty revolved around which tires would be the most suitable to complete the Belgian Grand Prix. Referring to the strategies seen last year and considering that the drivers would face a rather cold and green track, several news media outlets recommended the use of M-M-H (medium-medium-hard), while Pirelli suggested adopting S-M-S (soft-medium-soft). This time credit goes to the Italian manufacturer.
As we can observe from the recap provided by Pirelli, 7 drivers, including the top three finishers (in order, Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc), opted for two sets of soft tires and one set of mediums. On this strategy, Lewis Hamilton chose to mount a second set of mediums on the last available lap to secure the fastest lap in 1’47”305.
5 drivers chose to use two sets of mediums and one set of softs (Fernando Alonso, the best-placed in 5th position); Lando Norris was the only one to use all three compounds (in fact, he was the driver who completed the most laps on the red C4 tire, finishing in 7th place with 27 laps); Lance Stroll and Pierre Gasly made a single pit stop, using mediums and softs, with Stroll ahead of Gasly in the order; while Williams went for three pit stops with both drivers adopting an S-M-M-S strategy.
Ferrari amazed by the third-place finish, as if it had lost its way
Once the Belgian Grand Prix was over, it was time for the protagonists to give interviews before heading into the summer break. Ferrari achieved a beautiful podium, and of course, everyone from Charles Leclerc to Fred Vasseur (except Carlos Sainz, who had to retire after being hit by Oscar Piastri in Turn 1 right after the lights went out) expressed great satisfaction with the pace shown at Spa. What is worrying is not so much this (although it is…), but the fact that they claimed (referring to the Monegasque) that the Maranello team doesn’t understand why the SF-23 had such a different behavior between Belgium and Hungary.
Taking advantage of this column, we have already talked several times about our theory. Ferrari performs much better on rear-limited tracks like Austria and Hungary, while it struggles on front-limited circuits like Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps (here are the differences). However, this element alone is not enough to understand how the Maranello car will behave. Looking at these tracks, the Scuderia obtained a podium both in Spielberg and in Belgium, while facing difficulties in Budapest and the UK. So, what could be the element that brings everything together? The temperatures.
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At the Hungaroring, the drivers had to race with track temperatures of 50°C, and even though the nature of the circuit could offer an advantage to Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, the duo struggled to keep the tires in the right operating window. On the contrary, in Belgium, despite the fast corners causing higher tire overheating, having a track temperature never exceeding 34°C allowed Charles to consistently extract the full potential from his car. At the moment, this seems to be the theory that best explains the many ups and downs of Ferrari.
Therefore, one cannot be too optimistic about the result achieved at Spa. Unfortunately for the Maranello team, Formula 1 organizes most of the races in summer and not in autumn/winter. It will be difficult to create a scenario again where the rain falls just enough not to heat the track surface, allowing cars to continue on slick tires without having to switch to intermediates. We are waiting for more feedback to further analyze and understand what the real weakness of this Ferrari is.
In the words of technicians and drivers, there is a sense of lacking a clear direction, a line to follow in an attempt to solve the issues. They seem to be proceeding by trial and error, a bit randomly, as if they had lost their compass. However, perhaps it’s just a feeling.
Regarding the pit stops and tire changes, everything went as it should at Spa. They brilliantly remedied the problems that emerged during Saturday’s Sprint Race. The only regret is not being able to see if Carlos Sainz would have confirmed Charles Leclerc’s good pace.
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