F1 aero expert explains how Carlos Sainz STOPPED Max Verstappen dominance at Monza

Carlos Sainz driving in Monza. — Photo: © LAT Images

F1 Analysis

F1 aero expert explains how Sainz STOPPED Verstappen dominance at Monza

GPFans' aerodynamics expert Shubham Sangodkar explains how Sainz got the better of Verstappen at Monza

Shubham Sangodkar

Sunday 3 September 2023 10:27

Carlos Sainz caused an uproar from the Tifosi as he put his red scarlet car on pole on the home soil of Ferrari in Monza.

It was an incredibly close pole shoot-out in which he was faster than Max Verstappen by 0.013 seconds and 0.067s from his team-mate Charles Leclerc.

Sainz had been looking the faster of the two Ferraris the entire weekend and when it really mattered he delivered.

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In this article let us deep dive into where he found the time over the most dominant driver of 2023 – Max Verstappen.

Carlos Sainz claimed pole with a stunning lap at Monza during qualifying

Hot Lap Perspective

From the speed and delta plots below, we can see that Sainz makes 0.15s on turn four and holds the advantage through the twisty second sector, where the Red Bull has been dominant this weekend.

Verstappen makes the time back, albeit 0.013s at Parabolica, the last high-speed corner before the main straight. Ferrari definitely had the upper hand on the top speed with an optimised Monza-specific package being on average 5km/hr faster than Red Bull on all the straights.

However, what really sealed the deal was them being able to keep up in the corners despite their low downforce set-up thanks to some brilliant driving from Sainz.

Comparing Sainz and Verstappen's qualifying laps at Monza

Corner Breakdown

Sainz Corner - Turn 4

Going into turn four, where Sainz made up 0.15s on Verstappen, we can see that Sainz is gentle with his braking application as he brakes earlier but yet sheds off less speed, thus carrying more speed into the corner while being able to get onto the throttle at the same time as Verstappen on the exit.

Turn four analysis between Sainz and Verstappen

Verstappen Corner - Turn 11

Going into Parabolica, because Verstappen had a higher downforce configuration he was able to brake later and enter Parabolica with much more speed which allowed him to make up all the time that he lost to Sainz.

Brilliant driving from both Verstappen and Sainz indeed.

Turn 11 analysis between Sainz and Verstappen

Shubham Sangodkar is a former F1 Aerodynamicist with a Master's in Racing Car Design specialising in F1 Aerodynamics and F1 Data Analysis. He also posts aerodynamics content on his YouTube channel, which can be found here.