Only one team hasn’t got any closer to Red Bull

13 comments on “Only one team hasn’t got any closer to Red Bull”

1. 

   NM
   2nd March 2024, 7:33

   Good! But also not a surprise since half the field copied wenr redbulls way.

   Let’s hope for a closer fight at the top!

   i am Dutch and waited 30 years for succes but Verstappen has won enough now, so i’d rather wach exiting races then hin winning everything!
   1. 

      NM
      2nd March 2024, 7:34

      Since half the field went redbulls way.
2. 

   Jere (@jerejj)
   2nd March 2024, 8:06

   At least the 2016 pole la time of 1:29.491 finally got beaten in year 3 for the current car generation.
3. 

   Alex
   2nd March 2024, 8:47

   I appreciate the graph of ‘theoretical best times’: thank you, Keith

   It’s the best tool we have for separating what a driver’s setup and approach were capable of, from what they achieved.

   (Amazing that there was still half a second between Alonso/Stroll and Albon/Sargeant. And the gap between Hulkenberg and Magnussen shows just how incredible Hulk’s Q2 lap was)
4. 

   DB-C90 (@dbradock)
   2nd March 2024, 8:56

   I wouldn’t read too much into it.

   Given that the RBR car has been fairly radically changed, I suspect it might take a race or two for them to optimise it and leap forward a fair way.

   The real test will be the race – if their tyre management is again way better than everyone else they’ll just pull away into the distance. Hoping not, but I still think they’ll be 30 seconds up the road from the rest.
   1. 

      notagrumpyfan
      2nd March 2024, 9:40

      Given that the RBR car has been fairly radically changed, I suspect it might take a race or two for them to optimise it and leap forward a fair way.

      Most other teams have quite radically changed their design as well.
      And the design they all gravitated to is pretty gentle on the tyres.
5. 

   Red Pill (@redpill)
   2nd March 2024, 9:06

   Good article and data. Thank you

   While it could be said that all the teams (other than Alpine) found improved speed and reduced their gap to Red bull; but I would not be surprised if RB has their PU settings turned down at a more conservative level than the other teams to extend PU attrition.
   I think this will become more apparent when we start seeing the 1st cycle of PU’s this season (I’m betting that RB being able to hold out longer) or if there’s a situation where you see RB make a miraculous sudden gain (track time) when they really needed it.
   Red Bull appears to really know their confidence and threshold, hitting the data targets just enough that are needed to stay in front, But not too far in front), while keeping the long game vision in winning mode.

   This will make it much harder for the other teams to retain their new found closer gap to RB after the vacation break to the final race. Can the other teams stay this close after 3/4’s of the season?

   I’m not even a RB team fan, but have to give them credit.
   1. 

      Alex
      2nd March 2024, 9:19

      If Red Bull were miles ahead and keeping their power settings low to stay just a few tenths in front, then they would have ended up with the outright fastest lap.

      Instead, Ferrari had the fastest car (in qualifying), and Max is only in front because (1) Charles didn’t reproduce his best lap and (2) Max managed to find a tow from Piastri for the start of his final run.

      Max is definitely favourite for tomorrow due to the Red Bull’s long run performance over the last two years; and I share your fear that with the hardest part won, he may disappear into the distance.

      However, he was lucky to take pole yesterday, so I see no signs this is a performance level Red Bull ‘chose’.

      They’re going as fast as they can and – like the latter half of last year – that is neck and neck for qualifying (but quite possibly too fast in the race).
      1. 

         Red Pill (@redpill)
         2nd March 2024, 23:17

         I stand behind what I earlier posted above. Today’s race was a perfect example of RB’s race car management, keeping it controlled and playing the long game.
6. 

   RH
   2nd March 2024, 9:59

   However it has come at a cost of the outright performance of the cars. Even in the third year since they were introduced, they are still slower than at any point during the previous era, 2017-21, when the cars were widened and more complex upper aerodynamic surfaces permitted.

   The fastest ever lap of the current Bahrain International Circuit configuration (used for every Bahrain Grand Prix except 2004 and 2010) was set under the previous rules set: Lewis Hamilton’s 1’27.264 in 2020.

   These cars are 50 kilograms heavier than the 17-21 cars. That is ~1.5s in laptime. Given that these cars are of similar size to those of the previous era, I think it fair to compare laptimes after subtracting 1.5s.

   I see 1.29.1 as basically 1.27.6. And nowadays drivers have to push much more in qualifying unlike pre engine mode ban in 2020 where qualifying gap between RB and Merc alone was 1s at times.

   So I think these cars are quite rapid, just that they are theoretically limited in how fast they can go.
7. 

   S
   2nd March 2024, 10:16

   These cars are 50 kilograms heavier than the 17-21 cars. That is ~1.5s in laptime.

   Around the Nordshleife..?
   Mass doesn’t automatically (or necessarily) make the cars slower – it depends on the functions performed by that additional material. In F1’s case, much of it goes into additional aero devices which squash the cars into the track to allow them to brake later and go around corners substantially faster.

   So I think these cars are quite rapid, just that they are theoretically limited in how fast they can go.

   They aren’t theoretically limited, they are actually physically limited through the imposition of a large number of technical limitations, in order to maintain the illusion of being an on-track racing competition.
8. 

   DEfusion (@defusion)
   2nd March 2024, 10:27

   Hopefully this is going to be a good season with more pressure on Red Bull, and next year will be a classic.

   Because that’s what happens with stable rules in F1 and then they make a major rule change and someone comes out dominant again and it takes a few years for the pack to catch up. I don’t know why F1 don’t understand this and insist on major rule changes every 5 seasons.
   1. 

      S
      2nd March 2024, 14:27

      Hopefully this is going to be a good season with more pressure on Red Bull, and next year will be a classic.

      Don’t hold your breath.

      Because that’s what happens with stable rules in F1 and then they make a major rule change

      That’s never happened.
      They sometimes get closer (or one team gets bit closer to another) because the rules change. Teams drop development on existing cars and focus their resources on the next set.

      I don’t know why F1 don’t understand this and insist on major rule changes every 5 seasons.

      If they insisted on major rule changes every season, they likely wouldn’t have any one team getting away from the rest for an extended of time. But the order would still remain reasonably static even then, as the big teams stay big, the middle teams stay in the middle, and the backmarkers – well, you know…
      It generally takes forces far beyond the scope of the technical regs to fundamentally shake up the field and the results.

      The only viable way to keep the rules stable in F1 for more than a couple of years at most is to make it a spec series, with cars producing substantially less performance than they are currently capable of.

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