... and the RBR Livery

Finally: Wing Thursday! Let's go:

💡Rear Wings for #AustinGP

Load levels:
🔵 RB: ⏫ High
⚫️ Merc: ⏫ High
🔴 Ferrari: 🔼 Medium-high
🟣 Alpine: ▶️ Medium

Higher load:
✅ Better cornering/braking
✅ Better tyre wear
❌ Slower on straights
❌ Higher battery consumption

What’s your prediction?🤔


[📸 @AlbertFabrega ]

Cars like RB, who have a lower baseline drag, can afford to run more loaded wings.

Mercedes is probably betting on improved tyre wear in the race and accepted the higher drag this will induce.

Alpine’s less loaded wing might be due to their power deficit.

💡McL vs Aston

Load levels:

🟢 Aston: ⏫ High
🟠 McL: ⏫ Medium-High

Aston’s updates reduced its drag (but its downforce stopped being top-notch) and can afford to run a very loaded wing

McL is now good all-around and works well with different wings.

[ 📸 @AlbertFabrega ]

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Aston started the year over TWO SECONDS quicker than in '22!

Bahrain:
+9km/h top speed📈
+14km/h fast turn📈🤯
-5km/h in the slowest turn (ALO's 'brake late, accelerate early' approach)
-2.44 s laptime📈😳

The '22 car improved throughout the season
The '23 got worse!

Earlier this year, there were rumours about Aston being hurt by a clampdown on flexible front wings.
Alonso, instead, pointed his fingers at the new tyre introduced mid-season.

[second photo by Peter J Fox]

What went wrong with the team, in your opinion?🤔

Throughout the season, the difference in performance shrinked.

Here is Japan as a reminder:

Suzuka:
+12km/h top speed🚀
+2km/h fast turn📈
-8km/h in the slowest turn📉🤯
-0.09 s laptime📈

RBR Poster for COTA

Just 0.14s between the top 3!

🔴Ferrari: Less loaded wing➡️Excellent top speed

🟢Merc: More loaded wing➡️Modest top speed, excellent braking and cornering

🟠McL: Compromise, unmatched in turns 13-17

Will Ferrari struggle with tyre wear due to the lower downforce? 🤔

📊Top Speeds

11km/h between⚪️Haas and🔵AT😳
TSU was 19km/h quicker than MAG in turn 5, beating him by 0.2s: power of downforce!

Among top teams,🔴Ferrari got the highest speed (327),🟢Merc the lowest (321): Ferrari will be hard to attack, but might struggle with wear.

Car characteristics - USGP Quali

🔴 Ferrari: excellent top speed (2nd highest) helped them in getting pole, but cornering and braking were competitive too!

🔵 RB and🟠McL: same top speed and similar performance. A dream for season-start McL!

🟢 Merc: draggy but still quick.

Leclerc and Hamilton traded blows throughout the lap, and Lewis was in front through the last corner!🔥

🔴Leclerc in front
🔵Hamilton in front

Hamilton gained A LOT in the braking points (more loaded wing) and in the entry of slow corners, but his exit needs improving.

LapTime difference vs '22

Season Start (Bahrain)
🟠McL -0.627s
🟢AM -2.441s

Season End (#USGP)
🟠McL -0.837s
🟢AM+0.670s (slower!)
⬇️
🟠McL 0.210s better development in '23 vs '22
🟢AM 3.111s (!) worse!

Compared to AM, McL's seasonal development improved 3.321s more!

🗒Notes on US GP Sprint!

⚫️Mercedes’ updated floor worked (engineers said) and HAM kept up with VER on the first laps. Then, 🔵RB’s superior pace showed

🔴Ferrari’s wear was not great, but its great too speed helped SAI defend

Solid race by GAS/ALB/RIC 👌

Tomorrow’s higher track temperatures should make the Hard compounds more viable and could make the softs overheat.

In general, expect tyre wear to be higher due to that, in addition to the effect the higher fuel load will have on wear.

Your thoughts?🤔

Sprint Start - US GP

Sainz was the best starter, thanks to his soft tyres📈

NOR/ALB/STR/TSU/LEC/ALO were the best starters on Mediums.👌

Piastri's sprint race was underwhelming from the first few metres. 📉

Top Speeds - US GP Sprint

Verstappen did have the same setup as Perez (identical speed on the straights in qualifying), but when neither had DRS his top speed was much lower (<300): he probably set the ERS in cruise mode, while PER used more power in VIII gear to overtake! 🧐

Gap to Verstappen - US GP Sprint

HAM kept up with VER up to lap 5, then the difference in pace between the two became larger and larger. 📉

LEC's pace dropped off massively in the last few laps. Engine power didn't drop, he lost all the time in the corners: nursing the tyres?

Teams Tyre Wear per Compound

🟨Mediums (considering both drivers):
1)RB was quickest
2)Then Ferrari (LEC)
3)Mercedes
4)McLaren
5)Aston (much slower than others)

Only Sainz use Softs, but his wear was excellent: his pace dropped off less than LEC's, who was on Mediums!

Race Pace
1)🔵RedBull
2)🟢Mercedes
3)🟠McL and🔴Ferrari

Gap between teammates (seconds/lap):
0.52 LEC vs SAI (different tyres)
0.82 HAM vs RUS
0.98 VER vs PER
1.28 NOR vs PIA (‼️)

Mercedes' floor did wonders: HAM has a chance if VER needs time to overtake the others.

🗒Thoughts on #USGP Race!

-Max gets his most deserved win of the year in an open and strategic race👌
-Mercedes made HAM lose 5s in 2 laps by pitting too late🤕
-Classic Alonso ‘luck’: retiring after a great recovery😭
-McL now 4th in the WCC!📈

Stroll got into the points despite starting from the pit lane: the new package worked decently!

AstonMartin’s dreadful qualifying was mostly linked to having just a session to setup the new package correctly

They’ll get a lot of comparative data from this weekend!

What’s YOUR take?🤔

Race Pace US GP:

Performance:
🔵RB>🟢Merc>🟠McL>🔴Ferrari>>🟢AM>🔵Alpine

Aston's upgrades DID work it seems: first time that STR (updated car) was quicker than ALO (old car)
Stroll had a lower average fuel load (he did 9 laps more): that amount to less than 0.3s/lap though!

HAM was as quick as VER, on average: max was managing his pace at the end, but he would have had to fight for the win if not for Mercedes' errors concerning strategy and pit execution!

Want to understand the race better?
10 analyses are waiting for you👇

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/f1dataanalysis/us-gp-analyses-repository