F1 | Sainz: “Red Bull in front, but I have confidence. We are not far apart”

The first day of free practice in Japan was influenced by the rain that fell in the afternoon before and during the second session, the one in which we generally understand more about the values ​​on the field in view of the rest of the weekend.

Unfortunately, in FP2 the track was transformed into a middle ground that did not satisfy anyone: too wet to think about the slicks, at least until the very last minutes, but also too dry to try to run continuously on the intermediates, given the risk of damage a set that could come in handy in future sessions.

No major updates have been made at Ferrari, other than small things, so the single-seater has remained essentially almost identical to that seen in past events, but this does not take away from the fact that there is still a lot to try in terms of set-ups and configurations. The hope is that tomorrow in FP3 the rain will not fall again, giving us the opportunity to complete those experiments planned for today.

Going backwards, in fact, in the morning session Ferrari ran mainly on the hard, with the first set-up and data collection tests, and then moved on to a single attempt on the soft, too little to draw definitive assessments on the Red's potential. The interesting aspect is that Ferrari was then one of the few teams to diversify the work with more fuel on board: Sainz ran with the softer compound, while Leclerc once again used the harder one. It's also a matter of understanding which compounds are most suitable and which ones are able to perform best with these temperatures, which for now are even fifteen degrees cooler than last year as far as asphalt is concerned.

In general, it is clear that the Cavallino's attention is focusing more on those aspects that last year represented a major limitation, such as performance in the first sector, and it is exactly there that the engineers want to understand the progress and find a good balance.

If you suffer from understeer or oversteer in the fast sequence that characterizes the first sector, the risk is that of finding yourself out of the window with your tires in the rest of the lap. This does not mean that a certain amount of attention was also paid from a driving point of view to other sections of the track, such as the second part of the “Spoon” and the entry into the final chicane.

Turn 14, better known by its name “Spoon”, represents one of the most complex sections of the track, given that it includes a slight camber which tends to take the car off the track: also in this case, the challenge is to bring a lot of speed on the road, but without suffering much understeer.

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-24

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

The first sensations for Sainz are however positive, even if it will be important to confirm the work tomorrow, when realistically both the single lap run in search of the time will be combined, an aspect not to be underestimated in Suzuka, and a long stint over a long distance to understand the degradation. All this, of course, provided that the final free practice session remains dry.

“Maybe in FP1 we were a little closer to the Red Bulls, we had positive feelings after the progress made in the last five months, since the last time we came to Suzuka. But we only ran in FP1, where we don't know the amount of fuel or the engine maps with which the other teams ran. However, we try to stay within a few tenths,” explained Sainz at the end of the day on Friday.

According to the Spaniard, Red Bull is still one step ahead, which is expected on a circuit which, at least on paper, should enhance the strengths of the RB20, which has a good load and a stable and reactive platform at high temperatures. speed, as already shown in Jeddah and Melbourne. The idea is to keep McLaren behind, which has positioned itself as one of the most fearsome rivals for the red team: “I think it will be a close fight with the McLarens and the Mercedes, and the Red Bull is still one step ahead, but it should be an interesting fight.”

“It's not a very different situation to how I felt in Australia, I was very confident in Bahrain, in Jeddah and in Australia. Here in Suzuka this morning, also thanks to the work done last winter, we understood the car and how to set it up. Everything seems to be working, the car is better this year, which helps.”