Red Bull Content Pool

Exclusive

Analysis | Why Verstappen is almost unbeatable at a good start

Analysis | Why Verstappen is almost unbeatable at a good start

01-04-2023 15:08 Last update: 15:31
13

GPblog.com

Max Verstappen is in a seat heading into Sunday's race. The Red Bull Racing driver will start from first place and with a good start, there is a chance that the two-time world champion will disappear on the horizon. In the Friday practice sessions, the RB19 was very strong in the longruns and on top of that, the top speed speaks hugely in Verstappen's favour.

In qualifying, Verstappen mainly picked up his time on the straights, while his rivals did so mainly in the corners. George Russell, Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz (Saturday's fastest drivers for Mercedes, Aston Martin and Ferrari respectively) generally gained some time on Verstappen in the corners, but the RB19 is so dominant on the straights that the Dutchman can suffer just fine.

Verstappen fastest of everyone in terms of top speed

No one can match the top speeds of Verstappen's car. Mercedes comes closest, but they too are several kilometres per hour too slow on all straights. For Fernando Alonso, it will be quite a challenge tomorrow to get past both Russell and Hamilton, as the AMR23 is quite short of top speed.

Speed traps in qualifying (ST)

Driver ST corner 1 ST corner 9 ST corner 11
Verstappen 326 324 316
Russell 323 320 313
Alonso 318 317 308
Sainz 321 323 312

However, Alonso did show in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia that race pace at Aston Martin is thick and fast. The 41-year-old Spaniard looks set to put so much pressure on the Mercedes that Russell and Hamilton are chasing their tyres over the cliff. Tyre management can be trusted to Alonso.

Back to Red Bull. Verstappen's challengers may be faster in the corners, but this does lead to more tyre wear. The fact that Red Bull is so fast on the straights means they can drive with less downforce in the corners without losing much time on the competition. This not only provides a significant advantage in terms of tyre wear, but also offers a strategic advantage in the race. With such a large speed difference, it is obviously easier to attack and defend.

The task for Mercedes (and for Verstappen)

So for Mercedes, the task will be to find a way to attack Verstappen. Opening the rear wing when you are within a second of your predecessor will add around ten kilometres per hour in Australia. The W14s will be faster than Verstappen without DRS at such a time, but whether that will be enough to actually place a successful overtake is a second; after all, Max always turns onto the straight with several car lengths of lead.

For Verstappen, the task seems to be to be the first to enter Turn 1 and then create a gap of at least a second in the first three laps, when no DRS can and may be used. If he succeeds, Russell and/or Hamilton will have to approach the corners so aggressively that they will have to ask too much of their tyres to still be as fast at the end of the race.