F1 | Data: Ferrari fast at medium speeds, McLaren concrete

Ferrari took the headlines and the honors from the opening day of the weekend in Imola, finishing both of the two free practice sessions on Friday in the lead. The track on the banks of the Santerno is among the most complex in the world championship, because it is one of those tracks where it is essential to find not only a good aerodynamic balance, but also a good mechanical one, because attacking the curbs in the ideal way here can make the difference.

What the first day of free practice tells us is that, unlike other events in the world championship, establishing a real favorite for the first European race of the world championship is an extremely complicated undertaking. The updated Ferrari seems to have started on the right foot, but McLaren also seems to have good potential on its side, more than the Friday rankings suggest.

The one who appears to be most in difficulty is Red Bull, with the drivers never totally at ease on one of those tracks which, potentially, could have put certain peculiarities of the RB20 into difficulty. Greater enthusiasm instead comes from the Mercedes pits, which is timidly trying to move towards the top of the standings. However, it is not the first time in the last two years that the Brackley team closed the first day in a positive way and then suffered greater difficulties in the rest of the weekend: even during this season there was no shortage of occasions where the W15 changed its behavior from one day to another. At Mercedes they believe they have finally found a basis on which to work for the future thanks to the latest innovations, but it will be essential not only to understand the progress of their rivals on Saturday, but also to hit the setup window in which to make the car work best .

The Ferrari-McLaren challenge

Two test sessions clearly don’t change anything in terms of the standings, but at the end of the first day of free practice there’s talk of something different than usual, because the role of favorite doesn’t seem to be in the hands of a Red Bull that’s more in difficulty than others. appointments. The scenario is complex and in contrast to other races of the season, with Ferrari and McLaren ready to play for an important result to continue their growth path.

After the Fiorano trip a week ago, the updated SF-24 made good impressions on a track that, at least on paper, should have been more racing, thanks to a good mix of medium-speed corners. And it is in that type of corner, such as the “Piratella” or the “Villeneuve”, that on Friday Ferrari managed to build part of the performance that then led it to close in the lead, although the best time was achieved on the second attempt on the same set.

Leclerc ended the second session in command with about a tenth and a half over the first McLaren, that of Oscar Piastri, but the most interesting reference of the Woking team is not that of the Australian driver, but of his teammate. The final ranking sees Lando Norris only in twelfth place, but in reality the Briton potentially could have ended the day in the lead if it hadn’t been for a mistake on the Rivazza which then forced him to return to the pits.

Telemetry comparison free practice 2 Imola – Leclerc Norris

Photo by: Gianluca D’Alessandro

Paying attention to the progress of the season, it is not the first time that McLaren almost seems to “hide” in free practice, because on other occasions it had happened that Norris only pushed in certain sectors and then aborted his lap. However, in Imola the story seems different, because there is something more important at stake.

Observing the telemetry data, one immediately notices how both in the comparison lap with Norris and with that of Piastri there is a tendency for the SF-24 to gain something on the starting straight: a few cents which is noticeable more in progression than in terms of top speed, where performance is rebalanced. Since FP1, however, Leclerc seems to have suffered going through the first chicane, more linked to his driving style than to a problem in itself with the Red team because, on the contrary, Sainz is very competitive in that section. The tendency is to see a very aggressive Leclerc in the entry, and then struggle in the change of direction where it is necessary to attack the curbs: in the morning Sainz worked carefully to understand what the ideal line was and how much he could attack the curbs. For the Monegasque it will be essential to work during the night to find a good compromise, in particular because this tends to also have an impact on the exit towards Villeneuve, one of the sections in which the Red team performed well today.

Being a drier medium-speed chicane than the Tamburello one, the SF-24 seems to have found a better balance than the one put on track by McLaren. However, if after the first chicane there is a longer straight to take advantage of the best exit, after the Villeneuve the stretch towards the Tosa is very short, so the Rossa’s advantage is much more limited.

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

At Piratella, the good performances of the Maranello car in the medium-high speed corners once again emerged, with a consistent advantage over both the two McLarens, including that of Oscar Piastri, and over the Mercedes, while the difference over Red Bull, which made these traits, his real strong point in Imola, become thinner. Compared to the two MCL38s, as well as the Villeneuve, Leclerc manages to partialize without completely closing the accelerator, thus bringing greater speed on the road.

However, it is interesting to note how the situation changes significantly at the Variante Alta chicane, which is completely different from the previous ones. This is a very slow area in which it is important to be able to interpret the passage on the curbs well: in this case, Leclerc does not seem to lose when going forward, but when exiting, when he needs to put his power to the ground and launch himself towards the Rivazza. A certain difficulty had already been noticed in FP1, also towards Sainz, and then recurred in FP2 too. In this specific case, in reality, the Monegasque suffered a small oversteer which partially compromised the acceleration on exit, but the possibility cannot be ruled out that he opted for a slightly stiffer set-up by observing the references in the rest of the lap. .

On the contrary, McLaren seems slightly more balanced, especially at the exit: as in other areas of the track, the advantage gained at the exit is then carried up to the next area of ​​Rivazza, where Norris then made a mistake. Without the flaw, the Briton would probably have completed a lap that would have put him at the top of the day’s standings, so much so that in interviews he underlined that he was satisfied with the sensations in the car, as well as the fact that only a few changes were needed given that the The basic setup has already brought the single-seater into a good window.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

However, what really impressed was the race pace, which was extremely interesting both on the medium and, in particular, on the hard. McLaren split the program by entrusting Norris with work on the yellow band compound, at least before he encountered traffic from a Sauber in the final part of the stint, while Piastri lapped on the harder compound, recording excellent split times. In fact, it cannot be ruled out that the hard tire could become the decisive compound on Sunday. Ferrari is not far behind in terms of pace, but on Friday the Woking team seemed the most consistent, also because they dedicated a lot of time to the long-distance programme, completing a good number of laps.

Red Bull in more difficulty

Max Verstappen had hinted as much in the interviews on Thursday and so it was on the first day of free practice. Imola is a complex track, where many aspects need to be put together and, at least on Friday, the RB20 has not impressed so far.

Even last year, the Red Bull often did not prove to be the most effective car on the curbs and in very slow corners, but it had such a large advantage that it managed to compensate by taking home the result. In fact, it is no mystery that last winter, as also confirmed by the drivers, the team also focused its attention on improving these two aspects, which can make the difference in Imola.

On the track on the banks of the Santerno you need a soft car to attack the curbs, but also a solid one for medium and high speed corners, without forgetting how crucial it is to find the correct ground clearance: today many drivers complained about the constant bouncing at due to the various bumps along the track.

Telemetry comparison of free practice 2 Imola – Leclerc Verstappen

Photo by: Gianluca D’Alessandro

However, the first day of free practice saw an RB20 that was not exactly at ease, taking away the drivers’ confidence on a track full of bumps. The three-time world champion often made mistakes, especially in the “Mineral Waters” area, where he felt the difficulties most in not making the car “bulge” and in managing the overheating of the front tires. It is no coincidence that Verstappen spoke of a behavior that was difficult to decipher on the part of his RB20, which was very disjointed: in the most aggressive braking where there is a load transfer, there were moments in which he lost the rear, as at the Piratella, but also moments in which in the middle of the curve he had to encounter annoying understeer.

For now, Red Bull seems to have found greater competitiveness in the medium-high speed corners of the opening sector of the lap, sections in which the car from Milton Keynes has proven competitive in other events and where there are not even particular ups and downs that require more marked load transfers.

The feeling is that Red Bull has not yet found Ariadne’s thread to get out of a setup labyrinth for which it has not yet found the solution. Giving Red Bull the win, however, would be a big mistake, because over time they have demonstrated on several occasions how between Friday and Saturday they manage to find corrective measures that allow them to take steps forward. Undoubtedly, however, starting from a base that has not provided the desired results will require more work.

For all four top teams, qualifying will represent a crucial turning point of the weekend, given the difficulty in overtaking on this track. Before the start of the weekend, Leclerc had set pole position as his objective, but Friday’s free practice confirmed that the fight is on.