On this Spanish Friday, eyes were mainly focused on two teams: one was Ferrari, the other Mercedes. Both have presented themselves in the last rounds with aerodynamic packages that have changed the face of their respective cars: even if that of the Stella had actually made its debut in Monte Carlo, the track in the Principality was not the most suitable track for evaluating the goodness of the updates, with the judgments postponed to the Catalan weekend.
The first day ended with an eighth and an eleventh place for the two Mercedes standard bearers, with George Russell about half a second off the leader, and just over a tenth and a half behind the first of the two Ferraris.
This is not the best start for the Anglo-German team, but it is true that over the last year and a half Mercedes have rarely impressed on Fridays, instead going out in the long run. A scenario that also George Russell agrees, who hopes that the team can take a step forward in the night.
George Russell, Mercedes F1 W14
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
“It’s only Friday so we haven’t learned much, but we’re going to look at the data tonight and know that we’re not Friday specialists and often take a step forward on Saturday and Sunday, as it should be. But we are where we are. Many are making updates to their cars and we didn’t expect to make sparks,” explained the Briton, before adding that, from his point of view, the challenge will be with Ferrari and Alpine.
“It will be a hard-fought race. There are some cars that are very fast on Saturday, I think the Alpines are very strong, so I think between us Ferraris and the Alpines it will probably be a close race. Nico was very fast today, and I don’t know where that comes from. But we also saw it in Miami, I think Kevin was very fast and qualified ahead of us, but things changed on Sunday. I don’t expect tomorrow to be an incredible day, but I certainly expect Sunday to be better than Saturday. So that’s what we’re preparing for.”
A hope shared also by his teammate, Lewis Hamilton, who did not deny the difficulties on the flying lap, an aspect for which in reality the W14, like its progenitor, never really hit the front pages of the news. However, the seven-time world champion has more confidence in his race pace.
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W14
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
“I think the race pace wasn’t terrible, we just have to work to try and figure out how to get more out of a single lap”, added Lewis, hoping for some changes during the night, given that even a few tenths could mean a better position in grill.
“I think with the pace I had today it’s difficult for me to get into the top ten, but hopefully we can make some changes overnight. I think from fifth to tenth position we are all very close. It’s impressive to see the improvements that everyone around us seems to have made. Look at Ocon, the Alpines are doing great, you saw Aston Martin were second right behind Red Bull which is very impressive. So it won’t be easy, that’s for sure.
In the first free practice session, the two riders complained of excessive bouncing, especially in the final corners, a high-speed section where the asphalt is rather bumpy. According to Russell, this problem was alleviated in the second session, after some ground clearance adjustments.
George Russell, Mercedes F1 W14
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
“Initially we were just exaggerating the ride height of the car. We fixed the issue for the second half of the session by lifting it up a bit. The last corner is really bumpy, so a bit difficult to manage, but it’s the same for everyone”.
“We’ll see what we learned tonight. We certainly found some advantages (with the new package), but there are some surprises today, but I’m sure the story will be a little different tomorrow and Sunday. As we know, points are scored on Sunday, so that’s our goal.”
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