2023 Azerbaijan (Baku) Grand Prix - Race Thread

[Greig]

Cmon! You are now really trolling

Just 17 seconds on this track? come on that is not a good thing.

[drax]

Small step forward, let’s hope the upgrades for the next races keep moving us closer

[stefa]

Well done Ferrari, well done CL

[stefa]

Just 17 seconds on this track? come on that is not a good thing.

Considerenig how we started, this is good

[ferrari1.8t]

Both cars came home, good points for the team. First podium of the season, I think first race with no issues as well. Overall not a bad race! Still missing a lot to challenge the Bulls though.

Monster race from Charles! Forza Ferrari! On to Miami! I will be there so let’s hope for a strong race from us lol

[tifosi1993]

Just 17 seconds on this track? come on that is not a good thing.

There are some positive signs out there. The pace looked good when Charles was able to push. His time in the sector 2 was pretty good.

But yeah, upgrades need to deliver.

[PURE PASSION]

Havent see the race ,just then last 10 laps. But once again to be on par with AM-Marc and miles behind RB ,im a bit disappointed.Not for the places (i expected to be 3d and 4th-5th )but to see Alo to be faster the Lec n the last laps ......... !!!! And im afraid that the problem we have with the tires is quite hard to solve. I expected more today ,at least to be 3 to 5 tenths faster then AM-Merc

[jgonzalesm6]

Good points haul by the Scuderia by both drivers. It's not the best but it is what is.

[racingbradley]

It almost felt like a win for us to-day. I was afraid of Alonso but Charles kept him at bay. A small step forward we will take that.

[tifosi1993]

Havent see the race ,just then last 10 laps. But once again to be on par with AM-Marc and miles behind RB ,im a bit disappointed.Not for the places (i expected to be 3d and 4th-5th )but to see Alo to be faster the Lec n the last laps ......... !!!! And im afraid that the problem we have with the tires is quite hard to solve. I expected more today ,at least to be 3 to 5 tenths faster then AM-Merc

After the safety car re-start, the gap to the RB was 10 seconds in lap 26. The gap only grew to 7 seconds from lap 26-51.

Charles had to lap slow at the start to preserve the tyres. Unlike the RB or AM, Ferrari can't extract the advantage of having fresh rubber by pushing at the beginning of the stint, Charles had to nurse them and only when Alonso closed the gap to 1.1 seconds, he started to push.

[PURE PASSION]

After the safety car re-start, the gap to the RB was 10 seconds in lap 26. The gap only grew to 7 seconds from lap 26-51.

Charles had to lap slow at the start to preserve the tyres. Unlike the RB or AM, Ferrari can't extract the advantage of having fresh rubber by pushing at the beginning of the stint, Charles had to nurse them and only when Alonso closed the gap to 1.1 seconds, he started to push.

I understand that. In the last 5 laps ??

[tifosi1993]

I understand that. In the last 5 laps ??

It grew again. But Charles had Bottas in the last lap and lost time in the sector 1. He was 8 tenths slower than Alonso in the sector 1 and Bottas being there also compromised his sector 2. He did the PB sector 3 in the last lap.

[jgonzalesm6]

Giuliano Duchessa with his tweet. An improvement for Ferrari given the upgrades from RedBull vs Ferrari?

https://twitter.com/GiulyDuchessa/st...53503024619521

[stasera]

Leclerc kept his tires and didn't fight against RBs because AM was our main rival.

fighting for 3rd and not fighting for first and second place was rational.

we wanted to be 3rd and we have been. so yeah, it was a good race. this car is capable to do it not more than this.

[elnano14]

[Albert Fabrega] Sainz: "The race has been long for me. I didn't want to make mistakes and score points. Pushing more was risking for nothing. I didn't want to make the mistakes of 2022. Fifth is not what I want. Charles' pole gives us good motivation. From Australia there are better sensations"
hell. This man's mentality is absolute midget

[jgonzalesm6]

Leclerc kept his tires and didn't fight against RBs because AM was our main rival.

fighting for 3rd and not fighting for first and second place was rational.

we wanted to be 3rd and we have been. so yeah, it was a good race. this car is capable to do it not more than this.

Fully agreed...........but I'm never satisfied with 3rd............nor the last 15 years either.[big massive sigh]

[jgonzalesm6]

Ferrari are bringing upgrades to Miami that will certainly work. (we hope they do)

https://twitter.com/GiulyDuchessa/st...75399887777792

[jgonzalesm6]

Rear limited vs front limited tracks and the difference.

https://twitter.com/F1DataAnalysis/s...C81brVw-8tAAAA

[racingbradley]

I hate DRS. It just makes overtaking far too easy. Overtaking should showcase the aptitude of the driver/s to defend and robs the fans of proper wheel to wheel action. Irvine said that overtaking shouldn't be easy yet inside the 1 second zone the driver is a sitting duck.

[jgonzalesm6]

I hate DRS. It just makes overtaking far too easy. Overtaking should showcase the aptitude of the driver/s to defend and robs the fans of proper wheel to wheel action. Irvine said that overtaking shouldn't be easy yet inside the 1 second zone the driver is a sitting duck.

agreed. It's "fake" overtaking.

The power's that be decided to introduce it because overtaking was minimal before DRS. Now, those new fans watching cars overtaking under DRS love it and I'm more than sure viewership has gone up since DRS was introduced going forward as part of the reason viewership has gone up.

Now, it looks like these sprint qualifying and sprint race MIGHT look to be part of the agenda. I hate it but it looks like to give the fans at the venue and on TV more viewership as well.

[stasera]

I hate DRS. It just makes overtaking far too easy. Overtaking should showcase the aptitude of the driver/s to defend and robs the fans of proper wheel to wheel action. Irvine said that overtaking shouldn't be easy yet inside the 1 second zone the driver is a sitting duck.

I think the same way. In the sprint race, DRS awarded Perez with first place by stealing from Leclerc's hands.

DRS is punitive for the one ahead.

[JPZ]

I hate DRS. It just makes overtaking far too easy. Overtaking should showcase the aptitude of the driver/s to defend and robs the fans of proper wheel to wheel action. Irvine said that overtaking shouldn't be easy yet inside the 1 second zone the driver is a sitting duck.

DRS makes it almost impossible for a slower car to defend.

The concept only works when cars are relatively evenly matched and can re-overtake each other.

Otherwise, what was already a faster car is now unstoppable and we see drivers unable to do anything to defend as the speed advantage becomes too high on the straights.

[faloupas]

For me the most important thing is that this RB is in another planet on straights.Ok somehow we will fix tyre issues but what about that straight line speed.?
SF23 at the hands of Charles proves that is a fast car in one single lap but that means nothing nowadays...even back in V10 area Williams and Mclaren took poles from F2004 but in race pace they were nowhere.

[faloupas]

For me the most important thing is that this RB is in another planet on straights.Ok somehow we will fix tyre issues but what about that straight line speed.?
SF23 at the hands of Charles proves that is a fast car in one single lap but that means nothing nowadays...even back in V10 area Williams and Mclaren took poles from F2004 but in race pace they were nowhere.

[wisepie]

So happy for Charles getting on the podium and looked after his tyres well, but he still didn't seem too thrilled, knowing that our tyre deg issues and RB's straight-line speed being on another planet means that there is still a mountain to climb. DRS is making it too easy for a faster car to pass a leader but even without DRS, the RBs just waltzed past. ALO nearly caught him at the end but a great, sensible drive served Charles well. Overall the pace wasn't too bad, but Carlos needs to up his game.

[WS6TransAm01]

The fact that there are only 5 pages to a race threat tells me everything I need to know...

Sad state of affairs in Maranello.

[nani_s23]

Ferrari are bringing upgrades to Miami that will certainly work. (we hope they do)

https://twitter.com/GiulyDuchessa/st...75399887777792

RB’s advantage is race pace & DRS. Hence even if they loose pole position, they are confident in race to win.

My concern is that, even if we improve our race pace, how can we counter RB’s DRS advantage.

I don’t think ferrari engine is less powered compared to Honda. It’s all due to deployment, where RB-Honda is stronger.

[stasera]

RB’s advantage is race pace & DRS. Hence even if they loose pole position, they are confident in race to win.

My concern is that, even if we improve our race pace, how can we counter RB’s DRS advantage.

I don’t think ferrari engine is less powered compared to Honda. It’s all due to deployment, where RB-Honda is stronger.

our car's drag level is more than RBs. this is why they are much faster than us at straight line speed.
so it's all about the aero, not the engine

[Cavallino]

our car's drag level is more than RBs. this is why they are much faster than us at straight line speed.
so it's all about the aero, not the engine

yeah, but you're missing the point, that part of that aero advantage includes being able to have a bigger increase in top speed when DRS is activated compared to other top teams?

And somehow, they're able to do this while also having the best tyre wear on the grid. It's incredible.

[PURE PASSION]

RB’s advantage is race pace & DRS. Hence even if they loose pole position, they are confident in race to win.

My concern is that, even if we improve our race pace, how can we counter RB’s DRS advantage.

I don’t think ferrari engine is less powered compared to Honda. It’s all due to deployment, where RB-Honda is stronger.

SIMPLE !!!
Make a fast car to stay out of drs zone !!!!!!!!