F1 | Bahrain: here's how Red Bull beat Ferrari on degradation

The first race of the season in Bahrain ended with a beautiful and predictable victory for Max Verstappen, who had already demonstrated from the tests that he had something more than the competition, as was also seen in the long-distance simulations completed in free practice .

Exactly like twelve months ago, the script was repeated, with two RB20s in front of everyone under the checkered flag, with an undisputed dominance that resulted in a crushing victory for the three-time world champion, capable of taking 22 seconds off his teammate. team and 25 to the first Ferrari.

The Cavallino can undoubtedly complain about the problems suffered by Charles Leclerc, who could have added a little spice to the challenge for second place, especially considering that he had started ahead of Sergio Perez. Many drivers complained about the difficulties in overtaking during the race due to the dirty air, with a disturbance felt more markedly than in other years, unless they had a tangible advantage in terms of pace. Furthermore, the Red team could have played with two strikers, trying to force the Mexican into an uncongenial strategy.

At the end of the race, Fred Vasseur tried to look at the glass half full, indicating that he had halved the gap to the winner compared to last year's Grand Prix. In terms of pure numbers, in 2023 before retiring with 17 laps to go Charles Leclerc had accumulated a gap of 24 seconds, very similar to the one suffered by Sainz this season, but under the checkered flag. A sign considered encouraging by the team, although the reference is to an SF-23 that would have changed its skin only a few Grands Prix later, as it was aware of the limits of the old concept.

But where do those 25 seconds accumulated at the finish line come from? What are the aspects in which Red Bull has been able to make a difference? In the first stint Verstappen immediately took off, lapping at the low 37 pace, with an unmatched consistency of pace. On the contrary, Sainz, involved in the duels and remained in Perez's dirty wake for a long time, was only able to stop the clock at a 37.2 on the last lap of the opening stage, the one pushed to return to the pits, which was still higher than all the others. times recorded by the Dutchman in the previous rounds.

At Ferrari, they were however aware that on the C3 they would encounter some more difficulties than on the other compounds, which is why it is interesting to observe the central stint, the one on the hard compound, on which the Prancing Horse felt most at ease. Analyzing the laps at the start of the run, we can see how Sainz could have a small but significant advantage in terms of top speed compared to the Red Bull duo, probably due to the use of slightly more aggressive mappings. One could suggest how, being two and a half seconds behind Perez, Sainz could enjoy even a minimal slip effect, but on the straights leading to turns 4, 11 and 14 it is evident how the PU of the RB20 cuts, resulting in a more conservative , to which is also added the lift and coast (lifting the foot from the accelerator) put into practice by the pilot.

Race telemetry comparison in Bahrain between Sainz and Verstappen – Lap 19 (start of second stint on hard)

Photo by: Gianluca D'Alessandro

However, the real difference can be found in some critical points, such as the slow corners, the change of direction 6-7 and the setting of turn 12, one of the most demanding sections for the tyres. It is no mystery that the Cavallino team suffered throughout the weekend in Turn 1, even in the race, problems that also extended to the other low-traffic areas, where the grip of the new tire in qualifying had given greater breathing room and freedom of action.

However, already in the change of direction 6-7, one can appreciate how much speed the Hasselt driver was able to bring compared to the Ferrari drivers: if it is true that Sainz has shown some signs of fatigue in that specific stretch since Friday, also with Leclerc there is a rather marked difference, especially on entry, managing to bring speed above 10 km/h at times.

Even more interesting is turn 12, where in reality multiple considerations can be addressed. From the graph of the comparison between Verstappen and Sainz on the twentieth lap, very similar speeds emerge, but with a totally different approach: the Dutchman is more conservative on the accelerator, with a more pronounced and prolonged partialization compared to the Spaniard, despite recording similar speeds between them.

In fact, by observing the references of Perez, who is much more aggressive in this section than his teammate, one can see how the gap also extends in this case to around 10 km/h, although the Mexican was then less effective in other points. This allowed the three-time world champion to conserve his tires in an excellent manner, as his times also demonstrate: the first lap on the pace number 36 came 17 laps after the start of the stint on the hard, which is roughly the pace maintained in the first laps by his rivals on new tyres. Undoubtedly, the effect given by the reduction in fuel and, consequently, weight should be taken into consideration, but the focus in this case is mainly on the consistency shown by the Dutchman.

Race telemetry comparison in Bahrain between Sainz and Verstappen – Lap 33

Photo by: Gianluca D'Alessandro

Taking Verstappen's first 36″ into consideration, we note how the linear introduction of the tire in the first part of the stint made it possible to reach the point towards the end of the run of even being able to increase the pace in turn 12, something which did not could have done Ferrari, more to the limit in management.

However, the advantage shown by Red Bull in terms of consumption could also be appreciated in the last stint. The excellent results seen in the tests had convinced the strategists to once again focus on a different race tactic from their opponents, opting for two new soft ones instead of two hard ones. A different choice, so much so that it surprised the Milton Keynes team itself, which at the end of the race wondered why no other team showed up at the starting line with an additional set of softer tyres. However, the real question to ask in this case would be: who among the rivals could have afforded a plan similar to that of the world champions?

Both Ferrari and Mercedes have instead focused on a more flexible choice, especially keeping in mind that the asphalt of Bahrain is extremely aggressive on tyres, one of the roughest of the entire calendar. Aware of the different strategy, the Cavallino team attempted to force the situation, pushing Perez to return before the ideal window to make the second stop.

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Tour	Last stint Sainz – C1	Last stint Perez – C3
38	35.1	34,804
39	34,709	34,607
40	34,739	34,364
41	35,041	34.4
42	34,861	34,525
43	34,795	34,797
44	34,507	34,799
45	34.79	34,592
46	34,853	34,844
47	34,901	34.73
48	34,981	34,885
49	35.44	34,966
50	35,142	35,082
51	35,282	34.94
52	35,083	35,183
53	35,211	35,842
54	35,309	35,459
55	35,407	35,611
56	35,305	35,568
57	35,327	35,746

According to data from the Red Bull's engineers, the harder compound should have started to stabilize and have an advantage over the softer one chosen by Red Bull in the last stint around the 44th lap, or approximately eight steps after the tire change. However, that expected drop on the soft never occurred, except in the very last stages, when it was too late. Perez made the most of the greater grip offered by the red band compound, while at the same time trying to be more conservative in certain sections that could have put the tire under stress.

“Our car is stronger in the race, but we didn't find the balance we wanted on Thursday and Friday. The wind was the main factor, but also the very low temperatures of the track, temperatures that we had never had in all the years we we came to Bahrain. But we adapted with some small changes to the set-up and it worked very well”, explained Marko at the end of the race, underlining the issue of temperatures, much cooler in terms of asphalt both compared to the tests and the past editions.

Jeddah is a very different track, with a road surface defined as among the best in the world in terms of grip and, consequently, degradation. Although they expressed caution, the drivers suggested that the RB20 will be as strong in fast corners as the RB19 was, but it will be interesting to observe how it behaves in medium speed ones.