F1 Tech Preview | How can Ferrari have the edge over Mercedes in Abu Dhabi?

As the last race weekend of the year is about to start, there’s still an interesting battle to be looking at: the fight between Ferrari and Mercedes for second place in the Constructors’ Championship. With four points separating the two teams, finding the right set-up for their cars will be more crucial this weekend. Let’s try and have a look at who can be advantaged on the Yas Marina Circuit. 

The UAE Circuit is an anti-clockwise track characterised by many different corners and long straights: the first sector is very short and has a couple of fast corners, which are usually taken flat during qualifying. The second sector shows two very long straights separated by a twisty and slow chicane, and the third one is characterised by a couple of fast corners and a series of slow corners where traction and good mechanical grip are required. 

Moreover, since the asphalt has very low grip, Pirelli has adopted the softer tyres for this race and thus, tyre management (especially of the rears but also of the front right)  will be crucial to have a good pace during the race on Sunday. For this reason, teams usually adopt a medium-high downforce set-up, a very similar level to the one usually used in Bahrain or around Suzuka, for example. 

Red Bull with more downforce than other teams

Red Bull has shown up at Yas Marina with a higher downforce rear wing compared to their competitors: in fact, the team has decided to adopt the same wing spec they used in Suzuka. This rear wing shows a mainplane with a very accentuated spoon shape. The leading edge increases the air flowing on the profile to generate a lot of downforce. As for the DRS flap, it has a reasonably large chord and also features a nolder on the trailing edge, which is useful to avoid the detachment of the fluid (air) and maximise the downforce generated by the airfoil.

This wing choice is then matched with a medium downforce beam wing, which seems to work quite well with all the high downforce rear wings used by Red Bull, as it helps reduce drag, especially when the DRS is opened. 

This setup could make the RB19 very competitive both in the long run and in the last sector, the most technical one, where having a bit more downforce can be useful to carry more speed into the corners and still be quick in traction. Moreover, the drivers could gain an advantage from their car’s high efficiency when the DRS is opened on the two straights in the second sector. Despite the higher downforce rear wing, seeing them both at the top of the speed trap charts won't be surprising. 

Ferrari in a close fight with Mercedes 

Regarding Ferrari and Mercedes, the two teams adopted a similar set-up for two completely different reasons. 

Since the beginning of the season, the SF-23 has been known for having a very small working window, which could be affected by external conditions, like air temperature and wind. For this reason, the team has sometimes decided to adopt a different wing configuration to their competitors, normally a less downforce one, to balance the car and to make it more drivable for their drivers, even though the track layout would have required a bit more general load.

This is exactly what we’ve seen in Abu Dhabi: the Maranello team has decided to adopt a medium downforce set-up to be quick on the long straights and to give drivers some confidence under braking and in traction (we know that the SF-23 has a very good mechanical grip in all slow corners). The rear wing has a main plane with a spoon shape (smaller than the Red Bull’s one), designed to generate downforce, and then the airfoil is unloaded as it approaches the endplate to minimise drag. For what concerns the DRS flap, it has quite a long chord and shows a nolder on the trailing edge. 

This setup could play a crucial role in qualifying but could be a bit penalising for Sunday’s race. However, it’s worth mentioning that Ferrari has always proved to be quite strong in tyre management and on stop-and-go circuits, like Singapore or Las Vegas. This means that a lot will be played by the asphalt grip and the air temperature, as they’ll play an important role in the tyre degradation during the main race. 

Mercedes opted for a similar set-up but for different reasons: we know that the W14 has a very high drag on the straights. Therefore, using a medium downforce rear wing could be useful to make the car as quick as possible. Moreover, the floor introduced in Austin could have helped reduce (but didn’t delete it) the tremendous rear stability seen since the first race back in Bahrain.

For all these reasons, Mercedes adopted a medium downforce rear wing with a very similar shape to the Ferrari one. It has a main plane that shows a spoon shape in the central section to generate load and aims to reduce drag towards the endplate transition, where the wing's surface area is less. Regarding the DRS flap, the team slightly changed the shape of the profile in the endplate transition since it now shows a curvy shape to recover a bit more downforce (which would then be lost due to vortices). A crucial aspect for them will be to find a good set-up that would allow the drivers to push both in qualifying and in the race to be able to fight with Ferrari for the whole weekend. 

The fight between the two teams will be a good taste of what 2024 could look like, and a lot will depend on who will find the better set-up, so it’s impossible to make predictions. 

McLaren and Aston could fight for the podium

Finally, a brief mention to McLaren and Aston Martin that could play an important role this weekend: both teams have proved to be quick around this kind of track, as already seen at Interlagos or Zandvoort, because both the MCL60 and the AMR23 can generate a lot of downforce from the Venturi channels and be fast in the fast corners and in the medium speed corners and traction, respectively. These strengths and the ability to babysit the tyres during the race could play a crucial role in the fight between Ferrari and Mercedes for P2 in the Constructors’. 

In conclusion, everything is set for the last F1 weekend of 2023, where the close gaps between different teams could thin out and give us one of the most exciting battles of the whole season.