Analysis: Why Ferrari didn’t go aggressive on strategy in their fight with Red Bull

8 comments on “Analysis: Why Ferrari didn’t go aggressive on strategy in their fight with Red Bull”

1. 

   DaveW (@dmw)
   3rd September 2023, 22:22

   Risk of what? They are trying to win Monza as Ferrari. Not win a title. Should have at pit immediately. Even if sainz got stuck behind Alonso for a couple laps given their top speed advantage that would have given them a shot at an undercut.
   1. 

      Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
      3rd September 2023, 23:37

      @dmw In fact, with 15 laps with no tyre rubber, Sainz would arguably have been better off outright going for a two-stopper than a one-stopper.
2. 

   Gusm.ai
   3rd September 2023, 23:22

   Each time it makes less sense to have three tire choices.
   Apparently the harder or the softer options are never a good choice.
   As races become some sort of track position and PU management exercise, softs almost always mean an additional pitstops, which seems verboten and proscribed even before the lores tart moving from the previous race.
   And if hards are appropriate for a given car, that means that strategy is not focused into pushing a short stint on softs.
   From a sustainability perspective, that would make more sense that the ATA.
   1. 

      Jim from US (@jimfromus)
      4th September 2023, 0:43

      I feel that 3 choices are fine even though during any given race, only 2 of the choices work best. It adds to the strategy decisions of which tires to use during practice and qualifying.
3. 

   Anuj Chopra
   4th September 2023, 7:15

   They should increase length of all races by 60%. Then we could see a variety of strategies unfolding and a lot of overtakes.
   1. 

      Keith Campbell (@keithedin)
      4th September 2023, 11:26

      Sounds good in theory, but there are some logistical issues to consider. Pirelli would either have to make the tyres more durable, negating the strategy options you mentioned, or bring more sets of tyres to each weekend which would impact costs and sustainability that they are trying to prioritise in recent years. They would also need to increase the fuel limit by at least 60%, probably more because the fuel tanks would be bigger, making the cars even bigger and heavier than they are now. I don’t see them doing this with the current objectives and goals or F1.

      I do feel that some races, especially Monza are too short in terms of duration, which has come down to only 1 hour 15 mins of green flag running as the pace of the cars has increased, but there is not an easy solution without significantly altering the technical regulations.
4. 

   Hotbottoms (@hotbottoms)
   4th September 2023, 8:48

   Verstappen probably would’ve won the race no matter what, but still this seems like a wasted opportunity for Ferrari. This was most likely their best chance to win a race for the rest of the season and they decided to put both drivers on the same strategy that all but ensured Verstappen’s victory. At least splitting strategies would have put some pressure on Red Bull.

   What would have been the risk in splitting strategies exactly? They had a guaranteed podium with one of the cars in any case. The worst scenario was that the other car would’ve been fifth instead of fourth.
5. 

   Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
   4th September 2023, 12:14

   Well I think Ferrari probably did the right thing. It’s highly unlikely with any strategy that they would have caught Verstappen. Or if they did it would not have been for very long. If one of their drivers had tried a two stop I still think the chances are that this car would have finished lower i.e. 5th or 6th. So 3rd/4th was probably the best they could do on this circuit with the ATA in place.

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