F1 | Mercedes blitz, but it's Red Bull who dictates the pace on the red

It was an interesting Friday at the Sakhir circuit today. More than the qualifying simulation (with Hamilton and Russell in first and second position), what took center stage were the long runs completed in the second part of the FP3 session.

The ranking itself does not seem to offer any surprising verdicts, Max Verstappen ahead of everyone with Sergio Perez in his wake. The most obvious of predictions. But from a more in-depth analysis, some less obvious indications have emerged, which will be subject to immediate verification tomorrow.

Everyone tested the first stint of the race which will be done on soft tyres, so one variable has been eliminated. The distance covered was also almost the same, with runs of 12 to 15 laps, making the comparison more reliable.

In a run of 14 laps Verstappen achieved an average time of 1'36″715, a tenth less than Perez (1'36″819) and two of the surprise of the day, Oscar Piastri. The pace of the Australian from McLaren was a bit surprising, as was the general performance of all the Mercedes-powered cars.
“Maybe some of our rivals raised the engine a little in terms of top speed – commented Verstappen – but we only concentrated on ourselves. Today there were some small balance problems between the front and rear axle, but nothing major.”

Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL38

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

However, Red Bull's 1-2 was confirmed. According to several teams, the second force should be Ferrari, although the performance with the C3s is not yet ideal. Piastri and the two Mercedes confirmed themselves to be very fast in the first sector, i.e. two straight sections on which a strong headwind blew today. In these conditions a few more horses become a great help. Verstappen, who didn't go higher than fifth position in the qualifying simulation, has no doubts: “I'm not worried, although I think we'll be very close in qualifying. On long runs I'm more calm.”

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-24

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

The gap between the two Ferraris and Red Bull was the one hypothesized at the end of the three days of testing last week. Today it settled at 4 tenths (1'37″125 Leclerc's average time, 1'37″269 Sainz's) while on the fastest lap Sainz achieved the fourth fastest time overall, one tenth better than Verstappen. “It was a more demanding day of free practice than those we had during the tests – commented Carlos – because the strong wind made it more difficult to have consistent performances. Obviously we don't know the plans of our opponents, but in terms of competitiveness I would say that we are where we expected to be.”

Leclerc slipped to ninth position after a mistake in the qualifying simulation, then completed a good long run. Charles still expressed some doubts about the values ​​on the field, referring to the first official rankings tomorrow. “It is still difficult to define our level of competitiveness – he explained – we still have a lot of work to do, especially in terms of balance. I'm curious to see what position we will find ourselves in tomorrow.”

George Russell, Mercedes F1 W15

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

The curiosity will be above all about Mercedes, which emerged today in an important way after being a somewhat mysterious object in the pre-season tests. More than the lap times, it was the smiling and satisfied faces of Hamilton and Russell that convinced us of the quality of the day's results. “Calm down, we're letting ourselves be carried away by the enthusiasm – commented George – but I have to say that the pace in the qualifying simulation seemed really excellent, in fact, we still have to understand why it was so good. We made some changes from the test and it exceeded expectations.”

With the first set of soft tires, the Mercedes engineers made a mistake in setting the height of Russell's car, which was visibly 'creeping' for a large part of the track. Back in the pits the technicians aligned the value with that of Hamilton's car, putting things back in order.

“In the end, what really matters is the long run – explained George – and Max is still ahead in terms of race pace. But there's a good group behind Red Bull, me, Lewis, Fernando, Lando and the two Ferraris. We will have the opportunity to have our say.”