by FEDERICO ALBANO
In FP1 Hamilton sets the best time, but for now it is assisted by the engine. Red Bull starts in difficulty on the dips
The Monaco Grand Prix weekend began with a good first free practice session, where the teams were able to carry out their work programs without any particular hitches. Ferrari immediately stands out, choosing not to use the soft compound, for a purely “human” question. The attempt is in fact to increase the grip of the tire as Leclerc and Sainz gain confidence with the track, instead of putting a car with a high peak grip in the hands of the drivers, and then perhaps returning to harder compounds, extending the adaptation times in some way. This gives a measure of how much the Maranello team is focused on maximizing the result of qualifying, which is obviously the key session of the entire weekend on the Principality’s street circuit. We analyzed the data from the first session as usual, but with the due premise that if the first free practice session is normally just an introductory phase to the weekend, in Monaco this effect is even more evident, with still a lot of margin left for everyone before really pushing into the hottest 12 minutes of the year, check out Q3 on Saturday afternoon.
Ferrari gives excellent impressions even without the soft
The SF-24’s initial impact on Leclerc’s home track was objectively excellent. Although regularly with compounds at a disadvantage compared to the competition, Leclerc was able to gradually lower his time with greater ease, but often also followed by Sainz, with great control of the car, which never appeared to suffer particularly in this initial session. point of the track. Good in traction, fast in medium speed corners and with good mechanics in the many very slow corners, Ferrari therefore debuted with a baseline set-up that appeared centered, including the new rear wing which seems to have given load but also stability and grip in traction. Obviously the differences can only be measured when we get really serious, but it is important to note from the data how Leclerc has always been cautious when braking, a phase which has usually always seen him prevail this season. It will be interesting to evaluate whether this trend is just a matter of caution, or whether perhaps the new, very “strong” rear end gives slightly less confidence to the front end during violent braking. The latter, however, seems like a remote hypothesis, with Leclerc’s caution not to make any particular mistakes (along with the harder compound) amply justifying what the data says.
McLaren is also doing well, Mercedes stands out for now thanks to the gains
For now, the car from Woking is performing better than expected, with the beautiful yellow livery in honor of Ayrton Senna, with Piastri achieving an excellent performance (in the last few races the Australian is improving a lot in terms of pure performance, especially with the updated car ) and shows encouraging characteristics. The MCL38 is in fact very fast in the medium-speed sections such as Massenet and Casino and at the swimming pools, confirming the car’s strong aerodynamic footprint, but also in the entire very slow section from Mirabeau to the tunnel it behaves really well, with a mechanical set-up that for now it seems particularly right. The point of greatest suffering for Piastri was the double exit of Rascasse and Noghes, where in traction his McLaren left about a tenth of a tenth on the asphalt together with the first position of the session. It should be noted that in the fast sections of the first sector, such as Massenet and Casino, Piastri lifts his foot from the accelerator very early, managing with a partial brake (which the data does not show as the brake data is Boolean, but which is easy to understand given the speed trend) and probably with the engine braking the deceleration and entry into the curve. The one who found the best performance was Lewis Hamilton, who however, still for now, from the data did not appear superior to McLaren and Ferrari in terms of handling in slow speeds, nor particularly brilliant in medium-fast speeds, but rather with an important performance in traction and extension, daughter, perhaps, of a map that is a little more advanced from an engine point of view.
Red Bull in difficulty on bumps
For now, however, the RB20 and its World Champion Max Verstappen appear to be in more difficulty, especially in absorbing the bumps on the track. The car from Horner’s team seemed to have a very rigid basic setup, with great difficulty copying the bumps and therefore the high frequency stresses of the Munich city track. Once again the initial difficulty seems to lie in the suspension section for the Milton Keynes team, who will have to look for a better compromise than what was seen in the first session to give confidence to the riders, who otherwise will be forced to play in defence, an obviously complicated situation for this track. History, even recent history, obviously teaches us to be very careful not to consider Verstappen as the favourite, given that the Red Bull engineers have many times proven excellent in recovering less than perfect work in the factory, with perfect execution of the weekend on the track. We’ll see what further impressions will be in the second free practice, and how Ferrari will behave on the soft compound.
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