What the data says
Saturday wet that of Silverstone, with a third free practice session run in the rain with very low air and track temperatures and with a highly uncertain forecast both for the afternoon qualifying and for the race.
In these conditions the priority, especially on a single lap, is to bring up to temperature the intermediate rubber, which is not an easy operation given the cold and the obviously lower loads transmitted to the rubber, despite it being made of a particularly soft compound.
Despite the cautions of the case, with the drivers careful not to overdo it on the track given that an accident a few hours before qualifying can be very costly, the third free practice sessions have nevertheless shown some interesting data.
Mercedes does the rain dance, with great traction on wet surfaces
It became quite evident that under these conditions the W15 is particularly at ease. Already in Canada it was seen that with the cold and the wet track the Brackley car made that leap forward that allowed it to close the gap from McLaren and Red Bull to play for something important, and Hamilton and Russell did not need to be asked too much, going on to take first and second time. Obviously the moment in which the lap was done makes a fair difference from the point of view of the conditions, but the telemetric comparison of the various passages appears quite truthful. In these conditions Mercedes shows a particular strength on the longitudinal axis of the car, especially in traction, with a rear that manages to unload the power in an incredibly effective way. In fact we see from the data found in the curves by Russell that they are very good, but not necessarily the best, while the biggest difference compared to Norris and Verstappen is in the exit of the curve, precisely in traction.
Ferrari also did well longitudinally, RedBull was so-so, but what a McLaren in the corners!
Similar results to those from Mercedes were also given by Ferrariwho ran with both cars using the Imola package (i.e. the “old” one, pre-Barcelona, which therefore seems to be the one definitively decided for the weekend) with Carlos Sainz in turn effective in traction and braking and in some specific corners such as Copse (where he benefits from the excellent feedback in acceleration). The gap line shows how Sainz is in line and often even ahead of Russell’s lap until the last chicane, where he feels the full gap from the leader. It should be noted that Ferrari did not seem to have particular problems in bringing the intermediate tyre up to temperature, thus giving the impression that the lesson in Canada has served to find the right antidotes to these climatic conditions, but we will have to wait for qualifying to be sure.
Appeared instead RedBull not perfect in the sessionsuffering in some parts of the circuit such as Brooklands (turn 6) and Copse and in any case with some difficulty even with the car loaded with fuel, giving the impression of a set-up that still needs to be optimised for these conditions, although we know how Verstappen knows how to extract the maximum in the wet. The one who has impressed on the corners, however, is once again McLaren. Some results speak for themselves, such as the passage at Chapel, where Norris gives 11 km/h to Russell, 18 to Verstappen and 19 to Sainz or the following one at Stowe, with Russell 8 km/h away, Verstappen 16 and Sainz even 20. Looking at the graph, it is clear how the Mercedes Power Unit was used very little by the Woking team during its lap (just look at how the gap from Russell grows linearly on all the straights) and if you add the performance on the corners with the conservatism in acceleration we discover that Norris could prove to be a difficult customer to beat for everyone on the single lap even in wet track conditions. It wouldn’t be news: McLaren has not only often shown itself to be a car with a lot of aerodynamic load and that adapts well to cold conditions, but also the most complete, sometimes with lower performance peaks than RedBull, but capable of doing excellent performances on every type of track and in all conditions. The truth, however, will only be discovered in qualifying. On the one hand, the data also suggests a certain balance with a RedBull still to be optimized and Mercedes and Ferrari similar and close. On the other hand, we will have to understand if Norris really has this advantage that the data seems to suggest once the level of the Power Unit is raised. Qualifying will therefore be very interesting and, with these conditions, it also promises to be full of twists.
#British #FP3 #Telemetry #Ferrari #mix