Why Red Bull made “conservative” call not to start on same tyres as rivals

The run from pole position to turn one at the Circuit de Catalunya is one of the longest on the calendar, at 579 metres. The risk of losing positions at the start is therefore high if you choose not to start on the softest available tyres.

Last year every driver started on softs, except for Lewis Hamilton, whose race was ruined when he incurred damage on the first lap.

So it said a lot about Red Bull’s confidence in the performance of their car that they put both drivers on the medium tyre compound for the start of the race. Not just Sergio Perez, who lined up 11th and potentially had more to gain strategically, but pole-winner Max Verstappen as well.

After the race team principal Christian Horner said the decision had been “a bit on the conservative side” and arose from concerns over how well the C3 would hold up. “We were concerned that the soft tyre would degrade quite quickly and could put you on the cusp of a three-stop [strategy].

“So we were a little bit more conservative with Max. And with Checo, we felt that it would give him longer range to make better use of the pace of the car and that indeed that played out pretty well for him later in the race.”

Red Bull’s fears they would end up three-stopping – as most drivers did last year – didn’t materialise for them or most of their rivals. Even the likes of Zhou Guanyu, who was in the pits before lap 10 to discard his first set of softs, made it to the end with only one more visit.

The realisation that the soft tyre was strong enough led Red Bull to fit it for their drivers’ final stints, when Verstappen inevitably banged in the fastest lap of the day. Lewis Hamilton’s best time in the updated Mercedes was only three-tenths of a second slower, but he had already fallen over 20 seconds behind the Red Bull at that point.

With an unusually mixed-up grid (seven different teams featured in the top seven places), significant differences in tyre degradation between cars and potentially slightly easier overtaking due to the removal of the chicane (and the power of DRS), places changed hands quite readily.

After the race, Horner said Red Bull hadn’t expected Perez wouldn’t make it further than fourth from fifth on the grid. It’s unlikely they saw him falling behind George Russell, but they must have expected Carlos Sainz Jnr and Lance Stroll would be able to out-run him from second and fifth on the grid respectively. However both Ferrari and Aston Martin experienced noticeably poorer tyre degradation than Red Bull, and even Mercedes, in Spain.

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2023 Spanish Grand Prix lap chart

The positions of each driver on every lap. Click name to highlight, right-click to reset. Toggle drivers using controls below:

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2023 Spanish Grand Prix race chart

The gaps between each driver on every lap compared to the leader’s average lap time. Very large gaps omitted. Scroll to zoom, drag to pan and right-click to reset. Toggle drivers using controls below:

2023 Spanish Grand Prix lap times

All the lap times by the drivers (in seconds, very slow laps excluded). Scroll to zoom, drag to pan and toggle drivers using the control below:

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2023 Spanish Grand Prix fastest laps

Each driver’s fastest lap:

Rank	No.	Driver	Car	Lap time	Gap	Average speed (kph)	Lap no.
1	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull-Honda RBPT	1’16.330		219.64	61
2	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull-Honda RBPT	1’16.666	0.336	218.68	52
3	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1’16.676	0.346	218.65	62
4	4	Lando Norris	McLaren-Mercedes	1’17.182	0.852	217.22	55
5	63	George Russell	Mercedes	1’17.875	1.545	215.28	48
6	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari	1’18.069	1.739	214.75	44
7	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin-Mercedes	1’18.083	1.753	214.71	49
8	77	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	1’18.242	1.912	214.27	50
9	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1’18.357	2.027	213.96	52
10	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine-Renault	1’18.375	2.045	213.91	41
11	55	Carlos Sainz Jnr	Ferrari	1’18.403	2.073	213.83	60
12	21	Nyck de Vries	AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT	1’18.594	2.264	213.31	41
13	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren-Mercedes	1’18.679	2.349	213.08	41
14	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin-Mercedes	1’18.722	2.392	212.97	56
15	24	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	1’18.753	2.423	212.88	38
16	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas-Ferrari	1’18.776	2.446	212.82	53
17	22	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT	1’18.904	2.574	212.48	59
18	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine-Renault	1’18.946	2.616	212.36	54
19	23	Alexander Albon	Williams-Mercedes	1’19.133	2.803	211.86	59
20	2	Logan Sargeant	Williams-Mercedes	1’19.247	2.917	211.56	41

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2023 Spanish Grand Prix tyre strategies

The tyre strategies for each driver:

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2023 Spanish Grand Prix pit stop times

How long each driver’s pit stops took:

Rank	No.	Driver	Team	Complete stop time (s)	Gap to best (s)	Stop no.	Lap no.
1	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	21.537		2	50
2	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	21.775	0.238	1	27
3	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	21.778	0.241	1	16
4	21	Nyck de Vries	AlphaTauri	21.976	0.439	2	38
5	22	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	22.009	0.472	2	34
6	63	George Russell	Mercedes	22.054	0.517	2	45
7	4	Lando Norris	McLaren	22.062	0.525	3	50
8	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	22.112	0.575	1	13
9	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	22.124	0.587	1	10
10	22	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	22.176	0.639	1	10
11	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	22.241	0.704	1	26
12	63	George Russell	Mercedes	22.275	0.738	1	25
13	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	22.291	0.754	3	42
14	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas	22.298	0.761	1	8
15	55	Carlos Sainz Jnr	Ferrari	22.321	0.784	1	15
16	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	22.355	0.818	1	14
17	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	22.357	0.82	2	52
18	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	22.37	0.833	1	17
19	55	Carlos Sainz Jnr	Ferrari	22.375	0.838	2	41
20	21	Nyck de Vries	AlphaTauri	22.522	0.985	1	9
21	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	22.558	1.021	1	19
22	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	22.575	1.038	1	24
23	2	Logan Sargeant	Williams	22.583	1.046	1	17
24	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	22.731	1.194	2	50
25	4	Lando Norris	McLaren	22.85	1.313	2	22
26	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	22.862	1.325	2	39
27	24	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo	22.889	1.352	2	36
28	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	22.896	1.359	2	44
29	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	23.003	1.466	2	41
30	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas	23.257	1.72	2	26
31	23	Alexander Albon	Williams	23.319	1.782	1	16
32	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	23.371	1.834	2	34
33	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	23.388	1.851	1	19
34	24	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo	23.43	1.893	1	9
35	23	Alexander Albon	Williams	23.449	1.912	2	37
36	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	23.61	2.073	2	39
37	77	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo	23.691	2.154	1	5
38	2	Logan Sargeant	Williams	23.827	2.29	2	36
39	77	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo	24.097	2.56	2	39
40	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	24.11	2.573	2	35
41	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas	24.484	2.947	3	43
42	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	24.8	3.263	2	24
43	4	Lando Norris	McLaren	37.736	16.199	1	1

2023 Spanish Grand Prix

• Ben Sulayem raises safety concerns over “too many people on the grid” at races
• Why Ferrari say their change in design is the result of “discipline”, not “copying”
• Hamilton and Russell were seeking tow from Sainz when they collided – Mercedes
• Red Bull’s Spanish GP diffuser update was ‘inspired by rivals’ including Williams
• Why McLaren always doubted second-row start in Spain would lead to points finish

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