Analysis | Red Bull dominate speed trap, Leclerc has near impossible task

Ferrari might have the advantage of a front-row lockout for the Miami Grand Prix, but the speed trap times indicate that Red Bull are favourites to take the inaugural victory on the circuit surrounding the Hard Rock Stadium. Red Bull dominated the speed trap times. In this pre-race analysis, GPblog takes a look at what will be important in the Grand Prix. 

Speed trap

The speed trap in Miami is located 150 meters before turn 17. This comes at the end of the longest straight on the circuit so showcases the absolute top speed a Formula 1 car is able to achieve. In qualifying, Red Bull Racing and Honda absolutely dominated it. 

As shown in the graphic, four of the top five drivers are racing with Honda engines. Not only is it clear that Red Bull have a drag efficient car, but they also have an extremely high HP as backed up by Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda in the AlphaTauri. This adds to the earlier evidence collected through the season, whereby the different philosophies of the top two teams can easily be identified. Ferrari are strong in the slow/medium corners and Red Bull have the straight-line speed. 

Significantly, there is an average difference of around 10km/h between Red Bull and Ferrari. That deficit will almost be indefensible with a slipstream down that long back straight. Add in DRS for good measure and Leclerc will have a very difficult, near impossible, job of keeping Verstappen in his mirrors. After qualifying Christian Horner said that Red Bull would be hoping for some luck, good strategy and maybe even some rain. But it's probably the Italian team hoping for all of that. 

Leclerc and Sainz will both equally have to work hard in the area they are strong at. There's a very slow section of the track that is similar to the castle section in Baku. The two Ferrari drivers will have to be perfect through here every time to try and open a big enough gap and capitalise on their strengths. They will be desperate to stay in front of the one-second DRS range, but is that a realistic task? 

On Friday, drivers were unable to record long runs. The second free practice session was littered with red and yellow flags disrupting the runs. Therefore, tyre degradation is unknown. Though given F1 at the minute it's likely the simulations have made good predictions. 

Overtaking and Mercedes porpoising

Perhaps one saving grace for Leclerc is the dirty off-line. There has also been heavy rain overnight at the circuit which has washed away most of the grip levels for the race. Drivers have described going off-line like being on gravel. This could provide an extra challenge for the Red Bull drivers in their pursit of Ferrari in the opening laps. 

The Mercedes car looked stronger on Friday with suggestions that they've either reduced porpoising's negative impact with a few upgrades, or the track's low downforce characteristics reduce the issue anyway. However, after qualifying Toto Wolff confirmed to Sky Sports that the W13 is still "bouncing around like a kangaroo". Hamilton had one of his better qualifying sessions with a P6 finish, but George Russell failed to breach the top ten. 

Porpoising has hurt Mercedes' straight line speed all season, but they'll be pleased to see Hamilton beat both Ferrari drivers in the speed trap. He was still over seven km/h behind Perez's speed however.