Is it Red Bull that won the Miami Grand Prix or is it Ferrari that lost it? The question may seem misleading, since the result of the race is what it is, but as is often said in all sports; The best doesn’t always win.
In the analyzes after the race, the superiority of the Austrian team was highlighted. Mattia Binotto himself said after the race, quantifying it in a couple of tenths per lap. In short, a small difference, but enough to define the result in favor of Max Verstappen.
Following Max’s success in Florida and his earlier win at Imola, the RB18 seems to have taken a huge step forward on a technical level, as Charles Leclerc was unable to keep up with the Dutchman in Italy and, in Miami, despite taking pole , could not maintain the first position in the race.
However, and after a detailed analysis of what happened over the weekend in Miami, some data deserve to be read more carefully. The first number that should make us think is 18, in reference to the temperature delta that was recorded on the asphalt between qualifying and the race.
On Saturday, during FP3, the temperature was 54ºC, while on Sunday it dropped to 36ºC for the race. A very big jump that changed the performance together with the afternoon rain that swept away the remains of tires deposited on the track during the previous two days.
From seeing the two Ferraris in the front row, to an incontestable victory for Verstappen and Red Bull . It has been repeated on numerous occasions that the Dutch driver did not manage to make a perfect lap in the last session of Q3, but seeing the onboard , that Leclerc was not perfect either despite getting pole position.
Wanting to simplify the data, we can say that we have gone from a Ferrari capable of managing a margin of one tenth on the fastest lap over Red Bull, to losing two tenths in the race. Perhaps due to an overly downforced F1-75.
In free practice on Friday, the humid heat of Miami, combined with asphalt that tended to crumble, caused the Maranello team to decide not to use the unloaded rear wing that it had created solely for this event, opting for an older configuration.
With this change, they partially gave up a higher top speed, seeking more grip on a very slippery asphalt, in order to enhance the acceleration and traction qualities of the current Italian team’s single-seater.
The choice turned out to be perfect for qualifying, but backfired in the race. The drastic drop in temperature made the track less slippery, so Red Bull didn’t suffer in the least on the medium tyres, while Ferrari found themselves with a car too close to the ground, losing even more top speed.
Quite the opposite of what Ferrari thought happened , graining even appeared on the front of Leclerc ‘s right tire , forcing the Monegasque driver to slow down and consequently lose first position to Verstappen .
In short, on Sunday everything worked against what F1-75 needed. What was initially a winning bet on Friday turned out to be a wrong choice on Sunday.
On the other hand, for Red Bull , the weekend was the opposite: Verstappen on Friday only did a couple of laps due to problems with the gearbox first and then with the hydraulic system that ended up causing a fire, a serious blow for the driver. Dutch, since being a completely new track, it was of vital importance to accumulate laps for learning.
The drastic drop in temperatures on Sunday also helped the reliability of the RB18 , which did not suffer as much degradation in its tires and, above all, made it easier to avoid overheating, which has caused so many headaches at the start of the season.
In conclusion, the most correct thing would be to consider that the Miami race was lost by Ferrari as a result of a risky bet. But luckily for them, finishing with two cars on the podium meant some serious damage limitation.
