Ferrari believes Red Bull's Saudi F1 downforce choice "merits analysis"

Although there was little to separate the two cars in ultimate laptime at Jeddah last weekend, there were notable differences in how they performed at different sections of the track.

With Ferrari opting for a higher downforce configuration, it was better in acceleration and low/medium speed corners, while the Red Bull's low drag solution meant it had higher top speed pace.

In the end, it was Verstappen's end of straight advantage that allowed him the opportunity to draft past Leclerc after getting into the DRS window near the end of the race.

Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto noticed that his team and Red Bull diverged on their downforce direction after Friday practice.

Red Bull took wing off their car, while Ferrari elected to keep the downforce on because it believed it would help it better manage tyre degradation, as proved critical at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

But, with the hard tyre used for the majority of the race in Saudi showing almost no drop off in performance, the gains Ferrari should have got in exchange for the downside of lower top speed did not materialise.

Binotto said: "Max was on a slightly higher downforce level on Friday, and then he reduced it.

"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."

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1-75, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

Verstappen did not believe Red Bull was any more competitive in