Thanks to the new format that made its debut over the course of this weekend, the first day of track action on the Hungarian track turned into an extremely complex puzzle to assemble, given the many facets of an atypical Friday.
Activity on the track was less linear than usual, intertwined with the various work programs carried out by the teams, who chose totally different approaches. There are those, like Mercedes, who have chosen to complete the first day with just one set of medium tyres, while on the other there are teams who have decided to save as many trains as possible by lapping the bare minimum in FP2, such as Red Bull.
“I think we were lucky that it rained. Otherwise nobody would have done anything in FP1,” explained Lando Norris at the end of free practice, underlining how, with so few sets of tires available, realistically the teams would have decided to stay longer in the pits to save the tyres. The interesting aspect is that the Briton was one of the few to have used two sets of soft tires already on Friday, thus remaining with only two new sets in view of qualifying, a scenario that suggests that in FP3 he will make use of the used tires left over from the first day of action on the track. Furthermore, the Englishman completed a very long stint on average, as if he had already done some sort of complete preparation on Friday.
Lando Norris, McLaren MCL60
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Equally intriguing is Alfa Romeo’s approach, which did not use any set of soft tyres, partly due to the desire to concentrate on the harder compounds that will be used in the first two qualifying heats, partly because there is the ambition to be able to aim for Q3, in a challenge that promises to be quite intense. Although strategy on Sunday can make the difference, on a track like the Hungaroring the track position takes on even more central importance, so the grid position will weigh more than in other appointments.
The team that was missing was Red Bull, which in the second session significantly limited their time on the track by running only on the soft. In fact, Verstappen is the driver who has completed the least number of laps ever, without making a real attempt on the flying lap, except to measure the grip offered by the track. Contrary to many opponents, a full-bodied race simulation has not even arrived, an aspect where he generally reigns in a classic race weekend by anticipating his rivals. However, beyond the conservative mappings also due to the particular rotation of the engines, the first indications obtained from the pilots are overall positive. At the moment there have been some small difficulties in terms of mileage on the curbs and front precision, which often turns into understeer, but it’s something the technicians will work on overnight on the data available.
Although the potential of the RB19 has not yet emerged, Charles Leclerc believes that the car from Milton Keynes is the one to beat, keeping faith with the most classic of predictions: “They [Red Bull] they only used one set in FP2, but we expect them to be the stronger team.”
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-23
Photo by: Michael Potts / Motorsport Images
Among the many choices almost at the antipodes, there are those who have instead remained more in the middle, like Ferrari, which has decided to concentrate a large part of its work program on the softest compound of the lot, but without totally setting aside the yellow band compound, which will make its comeback in the race and in qualifying. In fact, with the experimental format, it will be even more central to be able to find a good balance on all the various types of coverage. As far as race simulation is concerned, the Maranello team has chosen very different approaches, trying to find the right balance between several possibilities: on the one hand, a lower attack time with Leclerc, on the other, a “slow” introduction with Sainz, aimed at making the tires last as long as possible. So we tried to find a meeting point between two different ways, understanding which could be the best solution.
On such an atypical Friday, the telemetric data almost take a back seat, because what really matters is being able to find a good balance despite the few kilometers travelled, especially when the first free practice session was lost due to the rain. However, observing the data, some interesting details emerge, especially in terms of approach. From the telemetry it can be seen that Ferrari has recorded particularly high top speeds, even compared to its closest rivals.
For example, the advantage on the starting straight reaches 3 km/h over the Red Bulls, 5 over the McLaren, which during the season has shown some more difficulties in terms of performance in terms of resistance to progress. A theme that can also be appreciated before turn four, where you can also notice some signs of derating by the MCL60, an aspect that will have to be kept under control on Saturday when the mappings are raised.
Comparison Leclerc – Norris in FP2
Photo by: Gianluca D’Alessandro
If in the first sector the times are roughly in line with the final gap, in the second split we begin to see more important differences, especially in the interpretation of the fast sequence, the one that puts the tires under the most stress. In the snake it can be observed how the values alternate according to the curve, while an interesting theme shown by both of the Prancing Horse standard bearers is the significant drop in terms of speed when cornering eleven, over 10 km/h in comparison with Norris. Having little data available, the situation could clearly change in qualifying: this is a rather significant aspect, because a lower exit speed in that section forces you to travel more slowly in the following stretch, with a consequent loss of time.
Starting from the third free practice, Saturday should see higher temperatures and different conditions compared to Friday, so much so that for the race Pirelli is also expecting values between 45 and 50 °C for the asphalt. The qualification, as well as the work done during the night after studying the data obtained in the simulations by the teams, will help to outline a more truthful picture of a difficult to read Friday.
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