The 4th F1 Dash Race in Austin highlighted Ferrari’s difficulties within the high-speed corners of the primary sector. The Maranello workforce, nevertheless, confirmed spectacular tire administration all through the race, even when the efficiency hole to Pink Bull remained vital. Alternatively, information revealed glorious prime speeds—an element that might show essential for today’s main race.
Russell retains tempo with Verstappen till lap 9. Hamilton outpaces Leclerc
The primary a part of Saturday’s race was closely affected by a flip 1 incident involving Fernando Alonso, Nico Hulkenberg, and the 2 McLarens, forcing the race path to deploy the Security Automotive. After the restart, Max Verstappen didn’t instantly present a transparent tempo benefit over his rivals, which allowed George Russell to aim strain utilizing DRS.
Regardless of having fun with usually larger prime speeds than the RB21, Russell solely had one real looking alternative to mount an assault. After that second, the tires on W16 #63 exceeded their best utilization window, and the hole between the 2 leaders regularly widened. This allowed Verstappen to construct a mean benefit of over two-tenths per lap.
The 2 Ferraris, in the meantime, engaged in an inside battle for many of the race, competing for fourth place and risking contact on a number of events. Solely in the direction of the top of the race did Lewis Hamilton handle to shut in on Carlos Sainz. Nevertheless, the seven-time world champion by no means had a transparent overtaking alternative, ending the race in fourth.
Ferrari manages tires nicely and improves lap instances on the finish
Relating to tire put on, the repeated slowdowns as a consequence of Security Automotive durations prevented a completely constant image of knowledge. The graph clearly reveals time misplaced by Leclerc throughout his battle with Hamilton. Nonetheless, Ferrari’s drivers proved to be the most effective among the many main pack in tire administration.
Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc adopted a extra conservative method within the early laps, which allowed them to keep up a tempo nearer to the leaders within the closing phases. Verstappen, and particularly Russell, suffered from a too-aggressive tempo early on. Nonetheless, with clear air forward, the Dutch driver managed to maintain his tires inside the optimum window extra simply.
This efficient tire administration over the 100 km distance, mixed with Verstappen securing pole place, might show decisive for the principle race tonight. It stays to be seen whether or not the SF-25 can combat on the entrance or should give attention to defending in opposition to a comeback from Oscar Piastri.
Snake part and gradual corners in T3 restrict the SF-25: prime pace stays robust
Analyzing common telemetry, the 2 Ferraris achieved larger common speeds on the straights. As highlighted within the qualifying information, essentially the most vital level for the SF-25 stays the identical: the “snake” part, between turns 5 and 9. Particularly, Hamilton and Leclerc have been dropping over 15 km/h on the center of flip 6 and round 10 km/h in flip 7.
Russell, nevertheless, managed to keep up speeds nearer to the world champion, maintaining the time hole down on the finish of the primary sector. The challenges confronted by the SF-25 are doubtless as a consequence of a trip peak not optimized for the U.S. monitor. As identified, the Maranello automobile should run larger off the reference airplane, which reduces the aerodynamic load generated by the ground.
On particularly bumpy circuits, this issue reduces extractable downforce. Moreover, the compromise setup chosen to make sure aerodynamic stability considerably penalized mechanical grip within the gradual part. Luckily, the setup changes improved the SF-25, because the mini-race required sacrificing entry efficiency in T3 to realize higher traction on exit.
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