No one wants to go overboard, and it’s understandable. There is only one exception, also because from what we saw on the first day of track activity in Montmelò it is difficult to hide. First in the qualifying simulation, absolute leader in long-runs, Max Verstappen has placed a very heavy candidacy on the Spanish Grand Prix.
The only (small) news coming from the Red Bull box is that the two RB19s seem to be the daughters of a different parent. In the hands of Verstappen the potential is such as to trace a furrow on the rest of the group while with Sergio Perez at the wheel it becomes an excellent single-seater but which leaves room for the hopes of the opponents.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB19
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Supported by a perfect feeling, Verstappen was able to deal with other problems, such as the possibility of following an opponent closely between turns 13 and 14, the new section of the Catalunya circuit.
“I tried to follow some single-seaters – explained Max – it seems that it can be done without contraindications. Overall I think we had a great day, the car was in a perfect window. I felt very comfortable and the priority was taking care of the tyres, but to better understand I’ll have to look at the times of the others”.
When Verstappen sees him, he will discover that there is an abyss between his pace and that of his opponents. Max completed two race simulations, eleven laps on the mediums (1’19”947 pace) and twelve on the softs, with an average of 1’19”296. For reference, Sainz’s pace on the softs (one of the best results) was 1’19”835 in a 10-lap run.
Without Verstappen the scenario becomes more interesting and decidedly contested. And, somewhat surprisingly, a good Ferrari emerges from the Friday in Montmelò. As far as it was possible to see, Leclerc and Sainz have not had an anomalous degradation in their respective long runs, and this is the first response that the Scuderia box expected.
Carlos Sainz, Scuderia Ferrari, in the garage with his father analyzes the times of the red
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Ferrari with a ploy allowed by the availability of its newly built sets of hard tires (which will debut at Silverstone) completed a long-run with both drivers on the hard compound, without showing any anomalous performance losses and saving the two sets of hard ordinary for Sunday.
Even more encouraging was the feedback from the simulations with the soft tyres, which satisfied both drivers.
“We had many new parts to test – commented Sainz – we were engaged in various set-up changes to analyze the differences between the various components during the two sessions. We also rode on all three compounds so I’d say we completed a good day of preparation for the rest of the weekend.”
Leclerc covered 15 laps with the softer compound, confirming an average time of 1’20”231, a value a bit far from Sainz’s, not only due to the longer run. Charles used the ‘old’ specification single-seater in the morning session and then fitted the updates only in the afternoon session, and he needed more laps to find the best feeling.
Beyond the numbers, however encouraging, there are also the opinions of the drivers, and both judged the single-seater to be more driveable, promoting the innovations. However, the references on the fastest lap have been postponed until tomorrow.
Ferrari wanted to use all of Friday (immune to the risk of rain) for technical assessments of race pace, and in the FP2 session they were the first team to finish the qualifying simulation, completed when the track was less performing. The program envisaged more than half an hour for the long runs, and this was the priority, for the absolute performance everything is postponed until tomorrow.
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W14
Photo by: Jake Grant / Motorsport Images
The fight behind Verstappen currently has undefined hierarchies. Mercedes, at the first test of the ‘revisited’ W14 on a permanent circuit, experienced a difficult day, with Lewis Hamilton sounding an alarm at the end of the FP2 session:
“Judging the pace seen today, I think I’ll have to fight to get into the top 10 tomorrow.”
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR23
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
The margins are very tight, as confirmed by Alonso, who had a good day (second in the time classification) even if he still has work to do in terms of race pace.
“It takes very little and you find yourself in a completely different classification position – explained Fernando – I don’t think today’s classification is very clear, I think that even the work programs have been different in some cases”.
Tomorrow will begin to give the first answers, apart from one that arrived today in a decidedly clear way.
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