What happened in qualifying for the 2022 Formula 1 French Grand Prix was just another episode in the fight between a very different Ferrari and Red Bull. The Italians have a very strong car in the corners and at the moment of pulling, while the RB18 is faster on the straights.
In this sense, there are few novelties in Paul Ricard, but in French lands interesting aspects have been seen, especially because the contrast is enormous, as the following data shows.
In the closing minutes of Q3, Max Verstappen was still quicker than Charles Leclerc on the straight before Turn 10, despite the Monegasque enjoying a slipstream from team-mate Carlos Sainz. That gave the Monaco driver a lead of two and a half tenths between Turns 9 and 11 , but it wasn’t even enough to overtake the Red Bull Dutchman on that stage. In the posts that accompany the article you can compare the fastest laps of Leclerc and Verstappen in Q3, and you can see that the straight in question is in blue, which translates into an RB18 going like a rocket.
The slipstream advantage of the Monegasque of just over two tenths is correct, while the reigning world champion manages around one and a half tenths over his rival from when he accelerates after turn 9 until he brakes at turn 11, so that the cushion that was created by the strategy carried out by Ferrari is almost gone.
However, if two laps without slipstream are compared, like those of Q1, the difference is greater, since Verstappen manages to get more than four tenths in the same stage, so it can be said that Leclerc lacked sufficient top speed as to make the pole position.
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In contrast to that top speed, Ferrari is strong in sector 3, as well as in the twisty part of 1, as they gain a lot from turn 11. Verstappen and Leclerc came out of that area very evenly matched, but the Monegasque managed win three tenths until he saw the checkered flag. This indicates that the Prancing Horse is extremely powerful in high speed corners, where the tires suffer, a pattern that follows what was seen in the previous eleven rounds, but here it has been more reflected by an increase in lap time. .
A real difference of tenths, almost half a second per sector, has been seen at the Paul Ricard circuit, even though Red Bull has reverted to its low-drag rear wing specification.
So the question is, of course, why the difference is so big in France, and the answer lies in the development of the single-seaters themselves. In Canada, Ferrari introduced a low downforce rear wing, which benefited them on the straights, even a race later, in Austria, their boss, Mattia Binotto , said: “With this new wing we have been able to reduce the top speed deficit, although I still think that Red Bull still has a slight advantage.
On Saturday it was shown that it was anything but insignificant, although the difference must be found in Red Bull, and we do it with the statements of Max Verstappen in Austria, who assured that the updates did not work as expected, but changed his mind after qualifying in France.
“We are with a different wing, and we have chosen to be quick on the straights, which we didn’t do in Austria. There we were almost as quick as Ferrari, and here there is a clear difference, so we have made a decision that we think will be more fast in the race,” he said.
That’s when Verstappen got to the bottom of the matter, and that is that his team reduced the downforce to return to settings for tracks like Jeddah, and that goes a long way to explaining why Red Bull is once again so much quicker than Ferrari in fastballs, a weapon that can be lethal on Sundays.
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