BATTERY DRAIN 🔋➡️🪫
Change in speed at end vs start of the lap

Negative values: loss of speed due to a drained battery.

Higher drag➡️More time spent full-throttle, less braking energy recovered➡️Battery drains➡️Clipping.


McL/Aston struggled.

Ferrari PU seems effective.

Having a sustainable ERS deployment is crucial to attack/defend lap after lap.

SAUDI ARABIAN GP - RACE PACE:

VER was NARROWLY quicker than PIA (0.04s/lap).

LEC was on fire! 'Just' 0.23s/lap slower than the pole-sitter and marginally quicker than NOR.

Mercedes couldn't compete.

Pace per team:
1) 🔵 RBR quickest
2) 🟠 McL +0.04s/lap
3) 🔴 Ferrari +0.24
4) 🟢 Merc +0.64

Last year's race pace, when Red Bull seemed unbeatable (PER was way quicker than the 3rd best driver!), and Ferrari was second fastest in front of McLaren, Mercedes, and Aston (‼️)

SAUDI ARABIAN GP - RACE START ANALYSIS

🟠Piastri was around 2-tenths quicker to 200km/h than 🔵Verstappen at the start, getting the lead!🔥

1) Could use more throttle after the clutch release, gaining a ~10km/h advantage;
2) Maintained that advantage, gaining more meters;
3) VER braked super-late, going wide.

VER’s speed profile is flat after each upshift, but that seems to be an issue in his telemetry and not a real phenomenon (notice how quickly his speed catches up right afterwards).

He upshifted at similar rpm as NOR, but later in time as his speed was lower.

Best starters:
ALO, both Haas drivers, BOR. STR was quick on Hards!

Worst:
LEC, HAD, LAW, SAI.

BEST QUALI LAP ANALYSIS

🔵 VER could stay full-throttle for more time than anyone else;
🟠 PIA did a mistake in T9 (worst min. speed there, lost 0.040s to his prev. lap);
🟢 RUS had the highest minimum speed in both the slowest and fastest corner;
🔴 LEC's low drag helped him on the straights, yet he was still competitive in the fast T9. He was the only one among the 4 to be faster (1km/h) at the end vs at the start of the lap (the ERS deployment looks sustainable, aided by low drag).

❌ Things to improve:
- RBR: deployment sustainability (or was it on purpose💡)?
- McL: drag;
- Merc: nothing specifically (balanced performance, just slower);
- Traction, slow corners, tyre temp management.

[Top speed measured on the longest straight, so VER's value is unaffected by the tow.]

The 'ERS' bit is interesting in my opinion, so here is some info:

Each team chooses an ERS deployment strategy for the lap, to minimise laptime for a given energy amount.

We DON'T expect the finish speed to be the same as the start speed, as it depends on where the finish line is (Higher finish speed is better if it is closer to the braking point; higher start speed is better if it's closer to the corner exit).

Still, for a given track, we expect this strategy to be similar for everyone. The 6km/h difference between RBR (5 lost) and Ferrari (1 gained) is strange, so it's either due to overdeployment early in the lap by RBR (or inefficient ERS) or underemployment by Ferrari (or efficient ERS).

The tow Max got from TSU definitely affected that metric (but not the one about the top speed, which I evaluated on the longest straight).

However, even when considering his previous lap (no tow), he still lost speed at the end vs the start of the lap.

SAUDI ARABIAN GP - VER & PIA Pace per Stint

🔵Verstappen was quicker than 🟠Piastri on both stints... but was his/RBR's potential higher?
Hard to tell🤔

Stint 1 (M): VER led, PIA 0.132s/lap slower
Stint 2 (H): PIA led, PIA 0.028s/lap slower

Takeaways:
- VER was more consistent (less variable laptimes).
- PIA was closer on Hards/low fuel than on Mediums/high fuel. He had reasons to manage during the 1st stint (waiting for the penalty), but also during the 2nd (was in front with a good lead).
- Hards lasted A LOT: both drivers improved laptimes throughout the 2nd stint! (Fuel burn impacted more than tyre deg).
- PIA's deg on Hards looked worse than VER's.


Made via @JMP_software

Did you know?

PIA was much quicker through the fast corners on lap 49 than on lap 23, even though his tyres were much fresher earlier. How?! 🤔

Physics explains it!
The maximum lateral acceleration is:
ay=μ(g + 0.5 ρ Cx A / m v^2)
🟢 μ: tyre-road grip coefficient (decreases with tyre wear)
🔵 v: speed (Downforce is proportional to speed squared)
🔴 m: car mass (decreases as fuel burns)

Here's how:
- Slow corners (green): speed (v) is low ➔ ay is ~μg, mainly tyre grip, and his pace didn’t improve much there!
- Fast corners (blue): speed is high ➔ downforce dominates. As mass (m) drops with fuel burn, the relative effect of downforce becomes even greater!

I hope you learnt something today, I love explaining these things! 🤩

Made via @JMP_software

MIAMI GP PREVIEW 🗒

City circuit combining two long DRS-assisted straights (and a 3rd shorter one) with the extremely slow end of Sector 2.

One-step softer compounds vs ‘24 (like in Jeddah).

High aero efficiency + good traction are key!

2024 race pace (below): NOR got his first win (and McL’s since ‘21)!
McL, RBR, and Ferrari were close in performance.

My prediction:
🟠McL > 🔵RBR ~ 🔴Ferrari ~ ⚫️Mercedes
(Very hard to predict who will be the second force!)

📸 @pirellisport

MIAMI GP - REAR WINGS 👀

🟠McLaren, 🔴Ferrari, and ⚫️Mercedes improved their downforce significantly over last year, allowing them to run less loaded wings in Miami for a significant drag advantage! 💡

This is not the case for 🔵RBR: this could in part be a choice, but partly dictated by their smaller downforce improvement compared to other teams. 🚨

🟠McLaren's change is radical: a less loaded DRS plane AND a much shallower lower plane. Expect a massive improvement in top speed vs last year from them. 🚀

'24 top speeds in best quali lap:
🔵RBR 338km/h
🔴Ferrari 338
⚫️Merc 337
🟠McL 336

'25 top speeds...?

Antonelli got his first (Sprint) pole... in the last corner! 😲

PIA was ~0.070s in front before that, but ANT's better exit was worth over a tenth! 👏

MIAMI GP - SPRINT QUALIFYING

Vertappen was full throttle far more (60.5% of time) than any other driver in Sprint Quali: his more loaded wing gave him excellent traction and high-speed grip, making him even quicker than ANT in the fast corners!

TSU's setup was slightly less loaded (+3km/h top speed), and his best lap was set on mediums.

Still, he could stay full-throttle the LEAST of any other driver: as all VER's teammates before him, he might be struggling driving the hardcore RB21.

FP1 and SQ analysis + Sprint, Quali, and Race prediction👇

https://buymeacoffee.com/f1dataanalysis/miami-gp-sprint-quali-race-preview