Max Verstappen and the RedBull begin the weekend of the Japanese Grand Prix recovering the thread which they had lost in Singapore. The Dutch stands out And convincesmaking full use of the better technical characteristics of his RedBull, i.e. the efficient load, the front strong and the aeromechanical stability which provides the platform for the RB19, low And rigid on the smooth asphalt of the splendid Suzuka track. In contrast to the performance of the leader of the world championship standings there is a Perez matte, which in turn seems to start from the difficulties seen throughout the central phase of the season. Max doesn’t seem to need much help, but, for now, he finds himself directly behind him a Ferrari definitely better than expectedfighting with aexcellent McLarenwith Leclerc and Norris appearing capable of for now animate the fight for the podium. In this case the data helps us a lot to understand what happened on the track so let’s look at the comparisons between Leclerc and Verstappen and between Leclerc and Norris.
Devastating RedBull in the “snake”
We immediately notice that the absolute strong point of Red Bull is, obviously, the first sector. The trait of the so-called “snake”, with the long series of long and fast curves with high-speed direction changes they are the perfect bread for the aerodynamic and mechanical system seen to date. The possibility of adopting a low and rigid structurecoupled with suspension schemes of Red Bull, allows Verstappen to always have available the maximum possible load, greatly minimizing the transient phases in lateral load transfers. The particular geometries of the background, then, give great aerodynamic stabilitywith the Dutchman finding himself in his hands with a single-seater with a uniform and predictable behavior, therefore definitely effective. By contrast, the first sector is its own Ferrari’s weak pointwith the SF23 struggling both when cornering and when changing direction while playing totally on defense up to the first intermediate both compared to Verstappen and compared to a McLaren which confirms that it is always working better and expressing a great level of downforce.
Ferrari recovers well on the rest of the track
Where though the SF23 “turns on”. it is immediately after the first sector, from turn 9 onwards, where the redhead shows a good state of form for now, decidedly better than what was seen in the first part of the season. At the hairpin Leclerc recovers more than a tenth from Verstappen and even 3 from Norris, and in the sprint towards the famous “Spoon Curve” we notice a acceleration curve decidedly thinner of McLaren and Red Bull compared to that of the red one. For now it is difficult to establish accurately whether it is greater efficiency (or less loaded) than the SF23 or one engine mapping plus thrust of the Maranello team. The data is however interesting from a RedBull evaluation perspective: resistance to progress has always been a problem for McLaren but never for the Milton Keynes team, so it will be important check during qualification and race whether this difference will remain. In general, however, it must be said that the maximum speed of 330 km/h for Verstappen it seems to confirm that the RB19 is also in terms of efficiency returned to its glories pre Singapore. Continuing the tour Ferrari it behaves anyway very good also at Spoon Curve, one of the most delicate for the redhead, given the need to remain supported at high speed. We noticed from onboards that instability of the SF23 tends to re-emerge a bit when traveling this stretch, but without affecting its effectiveness. Another aspect that we noticed when also comparing the data of Leclerc and Sainz is that on this track Sainz continues to approach the corners with a “V” style, while, unlike Singapore and Zandvoort, Leclerc here it manages to be “rounder” when traveling without having to continually fight with the car. The impression is that this is the result of new fund and the application of what has been understood under high load conditions in the last few weeks in Maranello.
In the race pace Max with 7 tenths of an advantage, enormous tire degradation for everyone
In the race pace simulations we instead saw a truly marked tire degradation for everyonewith a dizzying rise in lap times as the session continued.
The data collected tells us that Verstappen showed an advantage of around 7 tenths per lap over the competition, which is also consistent with both the actual times and the average telemetry. As we have now seen him do many times, Verstappen gains less time in the toughest sections for the tyres (the first sector in Suzuka), as it measures its use with great care, and then spread throughout the rest of the track thanks to a significantly better grip given by the rubber which is always in excellent condition. The Ferrari they still defend themselves well, and they seem to keep pace with McLaren by Norris. More backwardsfor now, the Mercedes, which started the Japanese weekend not in the best way. The Brackley team seems to have good potential to extract from the car, but at the moment they do not appear capable of showing it. We’ll see if the night’s work changes the game for Hamilton and Russell by adding them to the fight for the front row and podium. The high level of degradation appears in some way proportional for everyonewith the curves of the times that run almost parallel to each other and will represent the biggest challenge from a race perspectivewith the strategies that, if the track rubber is not enough to limit wear, risk being obligatory two stops. In conclusion, the impression is that, although Verstappen is still a candidate to dominate, there will be no shortage of points of interest this weekend too.
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