2023 Oracle Red Bull Racing F1 Team

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[AR3-GP]

The Suzuka special

[dialtone]

RB seem to still have the PU turned down rather excessively in the session like we've come to see since Zandvoort. I'm sure Honda have prepared the afterburners for competition sessions. To my estimate, RB will increase by 5km/h on the main straight and the back straight come qualifying.

Looks the same as Ferrari honestly from telemetry.

I figured you would chime in. It's not though. RB had a bigger rear wing last year, and are slower on the straights in FP1 this year. lol.

Ferrari's speed numbers are more comparable to last year and when you compare Sainz to Leclerc, Sainz is using more power than Leclerc so that' already gives some insight into where the power figures are. Leclerc and RB seem to be on the low end. Sainz was a bit more power for whatever reason.

Last year FP1 and FP2 were wet. So if we compare to FP3:

LEC v LEC (green today, red last year)


VER v VER (same as above)


Acceleration is identical, if anything RBR's acceleration might be slightly better than last year. Top end speed is fairly comparable. Under DRS on main straight top end speed is lower this year, probably sign that the front wing is more cranked or the car simply has more trouble generating high top speed compared to last year.

Looking at these graphs suggests to me that Ferrari might even have a bit of upside more in S1 as LEC last year was able to go much faster in the esses and in T7 have similar deal to Max.

[AR3-GP]

Last year FP1 and FP2 were wet. So if we compare to FP3:

I used qualifying to determine the maximum potential of 2022. From there you can see Leclerc and RB are much weaker relative to maximum than Sainz.

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Good to see rivals are aware of what RB have been up to

[AR3-GP]

The hairpin is very strange with this car.

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The hairpin is very strange with this car.

Is the car bad there? Might be the camber upsetting the platform

[AR3-GP]

The hairpin is very strange with this car.

Is the car bad there? Might be the camber upsetting the platform

Car doesn't look like it turns at all in the hairpin. I've seen Max try and brake early but it makes no difference. It's as if the car has a minimum turning radius . Front doesn't respond to more steering angle.

[AR3-GP]

The issues currently are the understeer in the hairpin (an atrocity), understeer in spoon (just a hint), and Perez ( ).

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Verstappen very satisfied with the first day. "The car felt very good today, from lap one it felt comfortable. Both during the short run and during the race simulation."

[scuderiabrandon]

0.3s up on lower engine mode, yup it is going to be a walk in the park but it was to be expected.

[AR3-GP]

Verstappen very satisfied with the first day. "The car felt very good today, from lap one it felt comfortable. Both during the short run and during the race simulation."

Well I would have to imagine that an ice cream truck would have also felt comfortable here compared to the car in Singapore... There are definitely areas for improvement still. Baseline is decent however.

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Verstappen very satisfied with the first day. "The car felt very good today, from lap one it felt comfortable. Both during the short run and during the race simulation."

Well I would have to imagine that an ice cream truck would have also felt comfortable here compared to the car in Singapore... There are definitely areas for improvement still. Baseline is decent however.

I wouldn't worry about the hairpin. It's probably a compromise to look after the tyres in the race. With tracks like this they always focus on protecting tyres for high speed and everything else is secondary. Getting the super stable platform for the esses might cost you a tenth in quali at the hairpin but reward a tenth better degradation in the race which they'll always take if they're already close to the front of the grid on 1-lap pace.

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Positive comments from Checo overall. More bullish than usual I think.

Checo on the morning's practice:

"It was very interesting. I think in the morning we were a bit off balance on our side.”

“We have some very good understanding of the direction that we need to take, and certainly things are looking a lot better than they did last weekend, which is positive.”

“I’m looking forward to qualifying well because degradation seems to be quite high around this circuit, especially with the hot temperatures we are expecting. I do believe that we’re going to be strong [in qualifying] and on Sunday.”

[Juzh]

As it stands ferrari is faster on un-DRSed straights by quite a margin. Very rough estimate verstappen lost 4 tenths on full throttle over the lap. I'm curious to see whether this equalises tomorrow or if Fer's engine really is a rocketship of some sorts. Worth noting ferraris are usually fastest cars on straights for a while now.