F1 Teardown: Saudi Arabian GP 2023
Poor Sportsmanship, FIA drama, Fast Red Bulls, and more...
What did the Saudi Arabian GP teach us?
Is Red Bull invincible? ❌
Was the Mercedes overreaction from race 1 warranted? ❌
Are FIA’s convoluted rules hard to understand as a fan? ✅
Is Alonso a genius? ✅
Is Max’s dad a prick? ✅
Even though the results ended how most predicted, with a 1-2 finish from Red Bull, watching Verstappen drive from P15 to P2 and steal the fastest lap from Perez (P1) was at least entertaining.
We learned that the Red Bulls are stupid fast; gaining 17 MPH over the competition when the DRS is enabled, or the rear wing is open. The number is astonishing, so much so that Sky Sport’s analysts are declaring the Red Bull car the fastest car we’ve ever seen in F1, to paraphrase.
They might be onto something considering late in the race the Red Bulls were gapping Alonso (P3) by over 1 second per lap. Some of this was Alonso managing the backend of the tire stint, but still, if this performance gap maintains I’m going to be writing about a lot of 1-2 finishes for Red Bull.
What we did start to see was the unofficial “pecking” order begin to take shape as the cars used less tire load in the corners and throttle for 82% of the fast street circuit.
Behind Alonso's masterful and experienced drive was the Mercedes pair of Russell (P4) and Hamilton (P5). Hamilton seemed to be the stronger car most of the weekend until the lights were turned on for Quali. Russell immediately found increased performance, or perhaps more aggressive engine mode, and dominated his teammate with help from split tire strategies as Hamilton’s mediums faded late.
The Ferrari duo followed the silver arrows drivers with Sainz (P6) and LeClerc (P7) in what was will be labeled as a disappointing result considering both cars were outfitted with new power units in practice.
More bad communication from the pit wall didn’t help LeClerc after he was forced to take a 10-place grid penalty—after qualifying P2—due to changing out the energy unit for the 3rd time this season; you are only allowed 2 all season. Apparently, electrical surges are occurring in the system causing heating issues much like “blowing a fuse” only there is no “fuse” for the unit so it just fails.
The emotional Italian motorsports media should give us some great sound bites before the F1 circus arrives in Australia around the technical and communication issues.
Some good news for Ferrari is that LeClerc looked lightning fast on the soft tires, and qualified well, so on short stints the car is fast; they just have to work on race pace.
The Alpine duo of Ocon (P8) & Gasly (P9) were really in “no man’s land” all race; never a threat, but much quicker than the “best of the rest”.
The last point went to Magnussen (P10) as he executed a late race pass on Tsunoda (P11) to take the position and then drove off in style showing the late speed of the Ferrari customer car (Haas). His teammate, Hülkenberg (P12) followed showing that Haas is indeed one of the stronger “best of the rest” teams.
Their fight is really against McLaren who had another forgettable day as NOR (P17) and PIA (P15) both had front-wing damage from the start, and had to pit early in the race. Even the live TV producer felt bad and awarded them some TV time late in the race as the teammates battled for spots on the end of the grid.
Somewhere Riccardo continues to laugh as he has the same championship points as Norris & Piastri.
Zero.
Piastri despite the bad result did show some of the talents he possesses as he made Q3 for the first time in his career, outshining the more experienced Norris.
Alfa Romeo was only a threat to themselves with Zhou (P13) and Bottas (P18) posting poor results. Bottas said he hit some debris on lap 1 and thought it broke something on the car, possibly the underfloor. That makes some sense as he was running at the bottom of the grid and finished a lap down.
Nick de Vries (P14) & Sargeant (P16) finished the full race as rookies, gaining important experience. The American had indicated he “felt disconnected” with the car all weekend which might explain the spins he experienced in Quali.
His team boss, James Vowles, provided some interesting–almost political–speeches when interviewed by the Sky team during the race and hinted they might get into the points with a late strategy call. The over-optimist couldn’t have been more wrong, clearly overselling the call.
Two cars failed to finish; Stroll (P20) and Albon (P19). Stroll slowly lost power early in the race for 5 or 6 laps before he carefully pulled the car behind the wall on one of the emergency vehicle entrances to the track.
The car, clearly out of the way of any danger and racing, resulted in the FIA throwing a safety car (SC) caution. While I understand, in the name of safety, why the caution was thrown by the FIA, it was good to see Brundle later challenge as to “why” it was needed at all.
This was only a small start to the FIA drama that later unfolded.
Who benefited from the SC?
Verstappen, of course, as he was able to take a cheap pit stop for new tires thus not costing him too much track time. This allowed him to execute Alonso’s prediction that Verstappen would be P2 by lap 25. Even Nostradamus would have been impressed.
What was more impressive than this?
Alonso’s entire day.
He executed a dream start to take P1 before going into tire & race management mode because he was penalized by the FIA for “incorrect starting place” on the grid; looking below he was too far to the left and the FIA is more stingy on these rules in 2023.
Did he gain any advantage?
Not in my book, but rules are rules or are they?
After letting Perez pass him Alonso masterfully stayed within DRS range–less than 1 second–in order to utilize DRS to stay ahead of P3 instead of trying to get back around Perez.
This helped Alonso gain a large gap so that when his teammate triggered the SC he was able to duck into the pits, administer his 5-second penalty, and change tires without losing positions. From there it was a Sunday cruise for Alonso as all he had to do was manage the hard tire compound on the car.
As the checkered flag closed we learned the FIA was re-reviewing (the already reviewed) AMR’s pit stop footage to see if AMR “worked” on the car prior to taking the 5-second penalty; this was over 30 minutes after the actual pit stop.
WTF?
After Alonso doused himself in confetti and champagne on the podium with the Red Bulls, he learned he was being assessed a 10-second penalty for “working the car” regulating him to P4. He handed the trophy to Russell in the driver press pen before answering questions he had zero answers to.
Fortunately, his team went to work immediately, possibly even calling Vettel, and provided the FIA 7 different instances where penalties were cleared while the rear jack touched the car; this is what the FIA deemed “working on the car” as the jack was touching it during the pit stop.
Since the FIA had not re-penalized those teams by way of enforcement they then reversed the 10-second penalty and provided a memorable 100th podium for the Spaniard driver.
The embarrassing scenario will result in the FIA regulations being rewritten, no doubt, and probably by the same stewards that wrote it in the first place.
For fans, it’s endless confusion, frustration, and jokes.
For me, it wasn’t the biggest joke of the day.
Instead, that goes to the Verstappen family as we found out the “apple doesn’t fall far from the tree”.
With the driveshaft issue fixed on the car after Quali, Ver drove from P15 to P2, helping the team secure a 1-2 finish for constructors’ points.
The exercise looked fairly easy as the car is stupidly fast. So much so, you would think he would have had a large smile on his face and actually had fun in the driver’s seat. Most drivers love a dominant car that can pass everything, seemingly all at once.
Not Verstappen.
He was annoyed.
Not only did he choose to sit in the winner’s chair in the cool-down room.
He also pulled the car into the pits, skipping the designated parking place on the track behind the P2 sign.
While this occurred we were provided images of Perez celebrating with the team except for Verstappen’s father who was just as irritated as Max.
Unreal.
Nico Rosberg even agrees "It is not good to see. We were also told he skipped the team meeting [on Saturday] apparently. "I don't think it's a good approach or mentality so early in the season when the team has done such a brilliant job and worked so hard. I think he could be more gracious”
I understand in F1 you have to have laser focus, especially when you have the best car, but to act like a spoiled brat isn’t what kids around the world should be seeing from a two-time “World Champion”.
We should see 3 happy drivers on the podium, not just 2.
I feel bad for the team and people that work hard to provide crazy fast cars for Verstappen so he can win championships.
They should be rewarded with a happy driver on the podium regardless of challenges that occur as a result of technical issues, parts breaking, or any other curve ball is thrown at the team.
The only thing more upsetting was the organizer’s podium presentation.
I don’t know why we need to see the entire team above the podium finishers; it was odd.
The podium was also super quiet as fans weren’t allowed onto the track to celebrate due to the cars being parked on the track, even though the reigning world champ refused.
Seeing the fans flood onto the track, screaming, chanting, and going crazy is one of the best parts of the podium experience.
Jeddah, sorry you failed me here.
Random Notes
It was Hamilton's choice to split with Angela Cullen, his longtime trainer, supporter, and dog walker.
Sebastian Vettel has become the lead investor and global brand advocate for BACX nutrition.
Toto Wolff believes Hamilton won’t leave despite rumors. They still have a great bond but are in a difficult spell right now as a team he feels. If the team can’t deliver in 1-2 years then Toto would understand why Hamilton would look elsewhere. Considering they are negotiating Hamilton’s next “deal”, I found the commentary odd.
Hamilton said adding RB side pods wouldn’t immediately change the car's speed; the lack of speed has to do with aero entering & exiting corners including drag instead.
After the race, Autosport reported Mercedes has revealed it has already found “really big steps” of performance at its factory after committing to a new direction with its Formula 1 car. "It is big steps in relative performance to where we are even now," explained Wolff. "The kind of gains that are coming in, in our R&D and in aero, are much bigger than we've had over a long time. So we've unlocked some potential because we are simply looking at things from different angles now. We have a different perspective, because of our learnings of the Bahrain test and race." "There was no step back. On the contrary, there was immediately two steps forward."
During the majority of practice, we saw FLOVIS on the back of Russell’s car. This indicates that the Mercedes is heavily testing the rear in order to correct the poor rear-end balance. Important data for the team to gather and maybe this is what Wolff is referencing to Autosport.
The FIA said drivers will not be allowed to ride bikes or use any form of wheeled transport during track walks from here on. LeClerc stated he would never to an F1 track walk again then. Park this one in the FIA dumb decision category.
The Economic Security Council of Ukraine alleges that Haas Automation has been involved in business with Russia's arms industry. Equipment from Haas Automation has reportedly been sold to Russian-sanctioned groups. Haas denied the report, but this is the same organization that committed tax fraud.
James Vowles says he still has contact with Toto Wolff. "He and I have had a working relationship for - I'm thinking about how long it was, but probably twelve years. And you don't just let go of a relationship like that overnight. But I have very good relationships with most of the team bosses in the paddock," explains Vowles. "I had a discussion with him once, and he asked me my view of things. And I explained to him very clearly that I'm different from him. And that's fine, too. I don't want to be like him. I want to have my own independent thoughts. That's what the strengths of both of us are."
New proposals for a London Grand Prix have been revealed by planners who are in touch with Formula 1 and say that the first race could be held as early as 2026. In the latest attempt to bring F1 to the capital, consultants working on the redevelopment of East London’s Royal Docks have included a 3.6-mile Montreal-style circuit in their plans. The 22-corner track is dominated by long straights and chicanes, with cars predicted to run alongside historic docks and City Airport at an average speed of 127mph. The new proposals from design consultants Dar and the LDN collective are “F1 enabled” from the design stage, with elements that include a “linear park”, featuring decking that can be removed to reveal a race track below. Floating grandstands are proposed for the waterfront and four stations on the DLR network would serve the circuit directly. A capacity for 95,000 is anticipated.
Hope you learned something,
🏁Brent🏁
PS The F1 timing tower test before the weekend started was pretty funny.
