By Carlo Platella
A first day full of ideas at Montmelò, both on and off the track. The Milton Keynes and Maranello teams introduce the second package of seasonal developments, which in both cases is an evolution of the previous one. In the afternoon however Lewis Hamilton takes the day’s titles, strengthening the image of a Mercedes on the upswing after the series of updates over the last month. However, flying lap times will count relatively, in a weekend where high tire degradation is expected with possible three-stop strategies, weather permitting.
The new Ferrari and Red Bull
The first surprise in Spain comes from Cavallino, presenting itself with a deeply evolved SF-24. Her eye is caught by the new bellies, which however are in support of a completely new fund, renovated in the Venturi channels, in the underbody and in the geometries of the diffuser. The attention dedicated to the bottom and diffuser outlines the picture of a car without particular behavioral or balance flaws, on which the team can push to improve load and aerodynamic efficiency. Contrary to the previous one, the new package debuts on a track suited to highlighting its characteristics, thanks to the long bends where the aerodynamic qualities fully emerge.
Red Bull, on the other hand, introduces a less extensive package than its opponents, but still important, with a revision of the air intakes, the vents along the bonnet and the bodywork. The world champions continue the same development philosophy appreciated also in 2023, focusing on the cooling system to find a better compromise between aerodynamic efficiency and heat dissipation. However, this attention also raises some doubts about a possible overheating alarm for the RB20 on the eve of summer.
However, the words pronounced in the press conference by Red Bull Chief Engineer Paul Monaghan are curious, as he explained the test recently carried out in Imola with the 2022 car: “We tried to give Max a reference from a previous car. When trying to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the current car, its reference [di Verstappen] it’s the current car.” One wonders if Red Bull doesn’t believe it is losing some of the qualities of the cars that dominated the last two world championships, to the regret of drivers and engineers. “[I piloti] ci said ‘in previous years we had this and that’”, Monaghan says, fueling the questions.
Mercedes in great shape
Coming to the track, the end of day rankings can be seen Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren enclosed in just 55 thousandths, with Hamilton, Sainz and Norris respectively. Caution requires us to wait for qualifying to talk about a recovery on the part of Mercedes, which has already shown off on other occasions during the year on Friday and then failed to make the leap forward on Saturday. This does not mean that today’s performance remains encouraging for the Brackley team, on a track where the search for balance between medium and high speed corners is more complex than in Canada. The impression is that the choice to develop by intervening on the aerodynamic characteristics of the car rather than on the mechanical ones is starting to bear fruit, widening the operating window.
Carlos Sainz and Ferrari finished in second place, at the end of a day where part of the time was dedicated to test on the new package. The first session is used to carry out comparative tests both in terms of aerodynamics, comparing the new with the old, and set-up, a precious program which however takes time away from preparing for the weekend. After lapping in the old configuration in the morning, at the end of the day Leclerc appeared to be in more difficulty than his teammate, so much so that he sacrificed more time in the afternoon session to make a set-up change. Not the ideal Friday for Ferrari, aware however that for the same reason it still has margins to extract performance from the car.
Red Bull doesn’t run away
It was expected that the world champions would be able to dictate the law again in Barcelona, but at least on the first day that didn’t happen. Max Verstappen’s only competitive Red Bull certainly does not appear to be in crisis, but still susceptible to attack by the large competition. The Dutch champion complains about the understeer in the center of the corner, despite which however asks for a move to the more loaded rear wing, as the main limiting factor for the RB20 in Spain is the lightness of the rear axle when exiting corners. A problem partly shared with McLaren and which the drop in temperatures expected for Sunday could cushion.
Sunday will be the decisive day for the Spanish Grand Prix. The simulations on Friday afternoon highlight a high level of degradation, such that a three-stop strategy cannot be ruled out. The weather forecast, however, promises a drop in temperatures for the race, with also possible rain. A variable not to be overlooked in preparing for the weekend, which has just begun.
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