Ferrari sends small but comforting signals during the first two free practice sessions of the Mexican Grand Prix, held a few hours ago at the Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City.
The Maranello team obtained good results in terms of timing on the flying lap with only Charles Leclerc, but what gave confidence to the environment was the simulation of the race pace, where the Monegasque signed a series of interesting laps without eating the tyres.
Red Bull, however, seemed much closer than usual. More human. A little hope for all the rivals and even Frédéric Vasseur stated that he sees the Red team as closer to the RB19. However, only two of the three special tests were archived and things could still change in terms of performance.
“We will probably be able to stay closer to Red Bull in terms of pace, but it’s a bit too early,” admitted the Ferrari team principal. “We are all struggling a bit, trying to find the right set-up and the most suitable cooling solutions. This could have different impacts on different machines. We will have a more complete picture tomorrow.”
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-23
After Austin and before Sao Paulo, Brazil, where F1 has faced and will face the format that requires the Saturday Sprint between Shootout and short race, Mexico City is still the scene of the usual scheme which includes 3 free practice sessions, qualifying on Saturday and the Sunday race. For Ferrari it could be an advantage thanks to the greater time to get their hands on the set-up and make it as close as possible to the drivers’ preferences, but Vasseur admitted that under the magnifying glass of the men from Maranello there is finding the right cooling of brakes and engine to avoid racing with a power unit to manage.
“I’m happy to have the usual weekend format. It’s back to something we know, but it’s always the same for everyone. We’ve also had excellent weekends with the Saturday Sprint, for example at Spa-Francorchamps, at the Red Bull Ring and so on. Austin was more difficult, it’s true, but we still took pole and brought home a podium. We have to keep that in mind. Today we are very focused on cooling the brakes and the engine, to avoid having to manage the engine during the race. And that will be a key aspect over the course of the weekend.”
Leclerc’s race pace, as mentioned, was the most comforting data of Friday for Ferrari. Vasseur himself did not hesitate to underline it, revealing how in Maranello they may have found the right set-up compromise to have a fast SF-23 on the straights (so as to be effective in race duels) and without running into major tire degradation problems.
“Our top speed will certainly be an advantage for us, especially in battles. The negative point, however, is that there is degradation. So we have to find the right compromise. However, in the first part of the stint, after an initial drop in tires, Charles was very consistent in the first 10 laps he did. This means that we may have found a good compromise”, concluded Vasseur.
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