I suspect that's a Merlin 61 engined Spit IX.
The best fuel economy on the Spit VIII with Merlin 66 was found to be at 23,000 ft, the figures I posted above are at 20,000ft. With the much higher critical alt of the Merlin 61, I suspect best economy would be obtained much higher, around 27,000 ft.
I doubt it's down to drag, if there was that much difference between the Spit VIII and IX, imagine the difference between the G2 you posted and the G6.
I'd say it almos entirely down to the difference between the Merlin 61 and 66. The Merlin 66 had a different supercharger and carb to the 61, so I don't think you can safely extrapolate the 66's performance from the 61.