The numbers say that in the long runs completed yesterday on the Hermanos Rodriguez circuit, the absolute fastest was Lando Norris. With the same compound (average) the McLaren driver completed a ‘run’ of 12 laps with an average time of 1’23”118, more than a tenth better than Max Verstappen, who completed 9 laps. This may lead one to think that Norris could be a candidate for the role of challenger to the world champion on Sunday, but there is a…’but’. In the FP2 session Lando took to the track with a set of ‘prototype’ tyres, then switched to soft tires for the qualifying simulation. When the long run began, McLaren fitted Norris with a new set of medium tyres, compared to the four-lap tires already used by Verstappen in the first ‘run’ of the session.
An advantage that is difficult to quantify, but there is no doubt that McLaren started the weekend well. Behind the two pacesetters is the Mercedes tandem, but Hamilton (third in the long runs, three tenths behind Norris) was a bit surprising by not making a particularly positive comment on his session. “The car behaves differently compared to Austin – commented Lewis – I really don’t know what to say, it seems like we’ve gone from day to night”.
“The feeling is that we can improve, we’ll work during the night, maybe it’s a problem with the aerodynamic adjustments and we can come out of it well, but it certainly wasn’t a Friday like the one in Austin.” Toto Wolff also revealed that during the day the Mercedes technicians dedicated time to checking the heights necessary to understand what went wrong last Sunday in Austin.
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Lando Norris, McLaren MCL60
At Ferrari, the results are reminiscent of many other weekends in 2023. Leclerc especially expressed himself well on the fastest lap, but the Monegasque’s race simulation did not seem managed in the best way. Charles started his stint with excellent times, but after six laps his pace increased significantly, reaching an average value very close to that of Sainz over the course of eleven laps, slower at the start of the stint but more constant in the final rounds. In common, the two Ferrari drivers have highlighted a progressive decline in performance which is quite worrying in view of Sunday. The rain that arrived in the final stages of the session did not allow us to have a more complete picture, but the impression we got yesterday was that in terms of race pace, Ferrari started the weekend as the fourth force.
“It was a positive day – commented Leclerc – in which we managed to try everything we had planned. We tested all the compounds and worked on the set-up, although as it is only Friday I think there is still some work to do for qualifying and the race. We will analyze all the data collected and work to make progress tomorrow.”
![Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-23](https://cdn-2.motorsport.com/images/mgl/YMdaPXm2/s1000/charles-leclerc-ferrari-sf-23-1.jpg)
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-23
The fight for pole position scheduled for today will be another story. In yesterday’s simulations Verstappen was the fastest but his margin of a tenth over Norris, and two over Leclerc, does not make him safe. Ferrari confirmed a good speed on the straight sections, but Charles paid the price against his direct opponents in the fast turns 8 and 9. On the single lap yesterday the classification was very compact, with the surprising Bottas and Ricciardo who from what we saw in FP2 can apply for Q3. Albon was missing, as he didn’t make the most of the laps on the soft tires in the qualifying simulation, but the Williams confirmed itself to be very fast from the first laps of FP1, and could be a candidate for the role of surprise of the day.
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