30/03/2022
NEWS STORY
Baffled by Red Bull's superior speed on Sunday, Ferrari boss, Mattia Binotto suggests the Austrian team's low downforce approach "merits some analysis".
At Jeddah, as was the case in Bahrain, the Ferrari appeared to have the edge in terms of pace, though the Italian team's high-fuel pace was unknown going into the Grand Prix due to the fact that both drivers had clouted the walls and were therefore unable to carry out any meaningful running.
From the start of the weekend, the two teams went in different directions in terms of downforce, with Ferrari going for a high downforce configuration while Red Bull went for less downforce.
On the second day of the weekend Red Bull opted to take off some rear wing and accordingly the RB18's pace improved, posting the fastest times at the speed-trap and allowing Sergio Perez to take pole.
Though quickest in the twisty sections of the Jeddah track, it was on the straights that the RB18 ruled, and this, combined with DRS, ultimately gave Max Verstappen the edge in his cat and mouse battle with Leclerc during the race.
"Max was on a slightly higher downforce level on Friday, and then he reduced it," said Binotto, according to Motorsport.com. "We decided ourselves to stay on a higher level of downforce, because we believed that was important for tyre degradation.
"But finally, in the race, the tyre degradation was very little," he added. "I think that their choice somehow merits some analysis from our side. But overall, it's always a compromise. It's only a matter of details and the right pieces that can decide the race at the end."
Verstappen however believes the end result on Sunday was down to tyres as opposed to Red Bull taking a step forward.
"It's difficult to say if it's a step forward," he said. "But I think we are always learning, and of course every track is different as well in terms of what you need from the car, so there are still a lot of things to look at.
"I didn't really feel that happy on the medium," he added. "All the time, when you would get close to the car ahead, the tyres would die. So there was not much racing going on there.
"It was a little bit frustrating to just sit there and wait for the right lap to pit so you could go onto the other tyres, because as soon as we went on to the hard tyre, I had a much better feeling."