Ferrari: Red Bull low downforce approach 'merits some analysis'

Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto says Red Bull's decision to opt for a low downforce configuration for Sunday's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix "merits some analysis".

For the second race in succession, Ferrari and Red Bull engaged in a fierce battle, with little to separate the performance between front-runners Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc.

Although the Scuderia charger led the most laps in Jeddah, the Dutchman had the last word, thanks in large part to the RB18's superior top speed, which Red Bull had already displayed in qualifying by topping the speed trap readings.

Ferrari's engineers noted the Milton Keynes-based squad's decision to take off some wing after Friday's opening day of running while the Italian camp stuck with its higher downforce approach, mainly to prevent excessive tyre degradation.

While Leclerc was clearly faster in the first sinuous section of Jeddah's track on race day, his velocity deficit relative to Verstappen was too much to allow him to fend off the latter in the DRS-enabled sections of the street circuit.

"Max was on a slightly higher downforce level on Friday, and then he reduced it," Binotto explained, quoted by Motorsport.com.

"We decided ourselves to stay on a higher level of downforce, because we believed that was important for tyre degradation. But finally, in the race, the tyre degradation was very little.

"I think that their choice somehow merits some analysis from our side. But overall, it's always a compromise.

"It's only a matter of details and the right pieces that can decide the race at the end."

• Read also: 'Smart tricks' helped Verstappen outrace Leclerc in Jeddah

Formula 1 heads Down Under to Melbourne next week, where a slightly revised layout awaits teams.

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner says that it will be fascinating to see once again how the bulls and Ferrari approach the event in terms of downforce configurations.

"It's been interesting to see these first two races," said Horner. "Certainly here we came with a decision of running lower downforce, and that worked today.

"Melbourne is going to be a different challenge. It's been modified, it's a quicker circuit now as well. So it's going to be equally fascinating."

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