A gap is beginning to form between the teams that brought the first technical updates of the season to the track and the teams still waiting for the news. Red Bull (in Baku) and Ferrari, this weekend in Miami, validated the goodness of the ‘upgrades’, and from what we saw on the first day of activity on the track created around the Hard Rock stadium, the leap forward is starting to difference.
For Red Bull there are no positions to climb, in fact Verstappen and Perez remain firmly in an area of the standings to which only they have access, but the stopwatch is still a good judge in certifying that the RB19, even in its development phase , is on the right track.
Verstappen arrived in Miami with the clear goal of forgetting Baku and putting Perez back at a safe distance. Max tried to break away from the first lap of the FP1 session, closing the day with the absolute best time and a good four tenths of a margin over Sainz’s Ferrari, first of his pursuers.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB19
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
There is even more, namely the findings that emerged from the long-runs scheduled in the last twenty minutes of the FP2 session, which was then abruptly interrupted due to Leclerc going off the track. The few laps completed confirmed a Red Bull with a stellar pace, at least in the start-up phase of the stint, with rivals at least a second slower. A scenario that places a discount on Sunday’s race.
Ferrari, updated with the new fund, experienced a two-sided day. The performance in the qualifying simulations was good, with the Sainz-Leclerc tandem immediately confirming itself behind Verstappen, but the long runs did not impress.
“The sensations in the car are good over the flying lap – commented Charles – as far as the race pace is concerned, however, we are still missing something compared to our rivals and we are working on this aspect. Red Bull on Sunday are again in a league of their own, way, way ahead. But we’re more or less there in qualifying”.
“Regarding the accident – continued Charles – I pushed too much and lost the rear. I tried to regain control of the car but I had no grip to turn the car. Luckily the damage is minor, obviously the front will need to be fixed, but the rear is fine. Overall it’s very complicated because on the track there’s only one rubberized line where you have a bit of traction, but if you go off the racing line there’s practically no grip.”
The question mark that will remain pending until the FP3 session is above all linked to the comparison (on race pace) with Aston Martin, or the most concrete threat for Sainz and Leclerc.
It is very probable that in today’s qualifying Carlos, and above all Charles, will have the possibility of confirming their lead ahead of Alonso, but the 57 laps scheduled for Sunday are another game full of unknowns.
The lap times were confirmed to be very fast (Verstappen’s time trial in FP2 beat Leclerc’s 2022 pole by about a second) but the riders confirmed a clear lack of grip.
“It seems to be on the track with intermediate tires – commented Perez – there is no traction and I think this was the first reason that negatively affected my Friday”.
“The more we skid, the more the rear tires get hot – confirmed Hamilton at the end of a difficult day for Mercedes – it’s essential for us to be able to find that balance that can guarantee us a decent window in which to let the tires work, but not it will be simple”.
The headache linked to the new asphalt could be a key element of qualifying. The evolution of the track in free practice was very accentuated, and if the conditions are the same today, it will become crucial to be among the very last to pass under the checkered flag.
In the FP1 session, an improvement of half a second was estimated in the last five minutes before the checkered flag, a huge gap that should reduce after the third free practice session and the first two qualifying sessions. But if it’s a disputed pole with a margin of a couple of tenths, this aspect could also be decisive.
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