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Friday nights are usually quite late for engineers during a Grand Prix weekend, as they analyze all the data collected during the tests. In Spain, these nights are even longer, as most teams usually bring a large amount of upgrades to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya – which means more analysis. So, who shone in sunny Barcelona on Friday and faces a tougher time this weekend? Let's look at the numbers …
SINGLE TIME
This time, the last race, the Ferrari were in a breathtaking shape, their new upgrade package worked perfectly and Charles Leclerc drove sensational. But then, he crashed in qualifying and everything collapsed from there, while Mercedes achieved a new double, their fourth on the rebound.
In Spain, it was the Silver Arrows that seemed the sharpest when the teams turned to Pirelli soft tires with red rims. And that is Valtteri Bottas, the championship leader, or Valtteri Bottas 2.0, as he is now known, both his performances since Australia have been impressive.
"The car felt really good today," said the Finn, his body language telling you everything you needed to know about the quality of his feelings. It did not go bad on Friday, quickly becoming familiar with the car and constantly keeping pace with the two 90-minute training sessions.
When someone went faster, Bottas had the tempo to react. It becomes a common phenomenon. On the other hand, his more decorated teammate, Lewis Hamilton, five times world champion in title, was strangely discolored on a circuit where he ran very well these last two years. He struggled particularly with the rear grip and was never really looking for a match against Bottas.
Andrew Shovlin, Director of Trackside Engineering, says there are still "a few bends where he is not as together as we would like and where we are doing. [the car] a bit of a handle sometimes ". Cure that and they could finish lighter than three tenths.
Mr Bottas also said the car was "completely different from the tests" while the Finn said he had a better balance and more support – everything his team was hoping to have said after testing the updates.
Best individual tour
All the times are fixed on the softs, in second practice
1 Mercedes (Valtteri Bottas) 1: 17.284s
2 Ferrari (Charles Leclerc) 1: 17.585s + 0.301s
3 Red Bull (Max Verstappen) 1: 18.035s + 0.751s
4 Haas (Romain Grosjean) 1: 18.153s + 0.869s
5 McLaren (Carlos Sainz) 1: 18.658s + 1.374s
6 Toro Rosso (Daniil Kvyat) 1: 18.722s + 1.438s
7 Alfa Romeo (Kimi Raikkonen) 1: 18.727s + 1.443s
8 Race Point (Lance Stroll) 1: 18.839s + 1.555s
9 Renault (Nico Hulkenberg) 1: 18,861 + 1,577
ten Williams (George Russell) 1: 20.191s + 2.907s
There were great expectations of Ferrari in Barcelona. They not only dominated pre-season testing here, but also came up with a new specification engine, focused on delivering more power, and a new series of aerodynamic updates. First impressions were cautious, which is perhaps not surprising given Mercedes' deficit on a lap, Sebastian Vettel suggesting that time sheets give a true picture.
It should be noted, however, that Ferrari finished its soft tire tests about 15 to 20 minutes earlier than Mercedes in the second practice session, so the track would not have been so well erased.
Leclerc – who admitted that the balance was not quite what he wanted – and Vettel made two quick laps, separated by a lap of recovery, during their qualifying simulations. Vettel made a mistake in his second wide-draft race and hit the gravel at the exit of turn 12, while Leclerc improved slightly in the second run. On the other hand, Mercedes did only one quick lap – both enough to make them pass over Ferrari – before focusing on fuel durations.
It can be said that Ferrari has the advantage in the sector one, but there is little choice between them and Mercedes. In sector two, it's the Mercedes that have a small lead. But then, in sector three, consisting mainly of low speed turns, Ferrari is lagging behind. As you can see in the graph below, Mercedes, Red Bull and Renault are all stronger in these types of turns. It is not surprising, therefore, that their speed in sector three is at the top of their homework tonight.
It was a mixed day for Red Bull, who takes his usual place in third place. Due to engine problems, Max Verstappen lost a lot of time in FP1. The team exchanged the engine on Friday after an oil spill and adapted the specifications it was intended to use for the rest of the weekend, so that it could qualify for the second day. but the missed tricks had put him on the back foot. he ended the session unhappy with the balance.
There were positives, though. Verstappen said the aerodynamic updates were working well, Pierre Gasly building on his confidence-building weekend, which took place in Baku with a clean day at the wheel of the RB15 on Friday in Spain. The Frenchman said that he felt good in the car and feels that the team has "taken a step forward". They are still three quarters of a second behind Mercedes, so the third line of the grid seems to be beckoning.
Haas hoped that a return to Barcelona would bring happier moments and, according to Friday, their hopes were realized. The surface of the track is such that Haas is able to heat the tires, which allows them to grip and avoid slipping which, as Romain Grosjean says, "destroys" the tires.
The US team has taken a comfortable fourth place and should have no trouble getting both cars into Q3 on Saturday if they run. Naturally, they remain cautious and avoid saying that they have solved their problems, as this track should suit them, but a certain positivity emanates from the team.
Behind them, it could make all the difference for the last two places of the top 10 Saturday, while McLaren, Toro Rosso, Alfa Romeo, Racing Point and Renault are separated by only two tenths of a second. Williams took the lead again, although George Russell is in a good mood, describing the day as "relatively positive" and saying they are "a little closer to the rest of the field than we expected" .
It's a boost for the British flagship team, which did not bring the upgrade packages proposed by its rivals, but instead tests experimental components as part of its learning later in the year .
RACE PACE
Glorious conditions welcomed the teams on Friday, with track temperatures reaching 47 ° C, about 15 ° C higher than in pre-season tests. And apart from Lance Stroll, who was at the end of the FP1, the two sessions went off almost without incident, which allowed the teams to gather a lot of data on their updates and to get long decent tracks to help plan the strategy of Sunday. race.
Mercedes seems to be the best to take into account the pace of the race Sunday, the Silver Arrows holding an impressive advantage of 0.7 s / lap on its closest rival, Red Bull. According to our data in Baku, these are the two best performances. Mercedes, however, took advantage of an additional 0.3 second / lap advantage in Barcelona.
Red Bull boss Christian Horner said he was expecting the RB15 to be stronger in qualifying than in qualifying. Verstappen and Gasly could therefore be on Sunday afternoon if they can qualify and qualify for a good Sunday afternoon getaway. The Ferraris are far behind at 0.9s / lap, but it is expected that this gap will narrow significantly, especially with Leclerc suggesting that they have not yet pushed their improvements.
Toro Rosso is the best surprise of the race pace ranking, especially since they did not bring any major updates, but rather smaller modifications as part of a slippery development plan. Both drivers said they felt comfortable with the car, especially at the 2nd session. Alexander Albon had hinted that the team was "in the stadium" and that "the pace was still strong".
Haas is only a fraction behind fifth place and will probably have the best chance to pick up coins if one of the big teams falters thanks to his top position on the grid thanks to his one-lap pace. McLaren is a little further back, with the updated Renault engine that the French manufacturer has brought ahead of schedule, along with a stream of aerodynamic updates.
Renault, which also runs the engine update, was a bit disappointing overall today, but Daniel Ricciardo insisted that "long runs were more competitive" than their qualifying simulations. Honey Badger believes that the updates "worked very well", but as their program progressed, it became clear that they had been running. in the wrong way. "We have to take a few steps back and solve the problem." That said, he believes that Q3 is possible – and if it succeeds and the race speed forecasts are accurate, points could be at stake.
Racing Point has a lot of work to do tonight to understand its upgrades, with the team being put on the back end when Stroll crashed into FP1. Although they went out again for the second session, her car featured a series of old parts, as the team needed time to repair the damage to some of the elements improved.
Alfa Romeo was ninth in this metric, Kimi Raikkonen – one of only six drivers to have scored in the four races of the season – admitting it was a "tough day" for the team "with a lot of problems ". But it was not the worst, this title was again reserved for Williams. The British team is still lagging behind and faces another extended afternoon on a circuit that earned them their last Grand Prix win seven years ago.
VERDICT
In the current state of things, it will be the Mercedes that will sleep more deeply on Friday night, the Silver Arrows seem powerful in both a lap and race. Everything is not going well, however, Hamilton is clearly unhappy with the behavior of his car. So if he can not sort it out tonight and he can not do it in qualifying, a Ferrari could slip into the front row – and that's when things get complicated for the race.
Farther back, the midfielder is still as tight, with six teams vying to score points if they handle the tires and execute their running strategy well. Haas seems to be the strongest of the six, both in qualifying and in the race. But can they convert and stop the pattern of the last three races where they fell back into the pack like a hot knife through butter? That the weekend begins!
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