Probably one of the most important and significant weekends of the year in terms of performance begins. The Barcelona track remains the main track for evaluating the virtues and defects of the single-seaters and we have seen how many innovations all the teams have brought and how much work on the track in the first free practice session of the Spanish Grand Prix. In the short time available we made an initial evaluation of the data comparing the best lap Ferrari (Leclerc) and the best ride RedBull (Verstappen). Obviously, this is only a rough estimate for now, having run the single-seaters for only one hour on the Catalan circuit, but if these first data are certainly not decisive in absolute terms, the team’s areas of work emerge from the analysis and it seems to be true. that everyone is looking for what they lack. Ferrari with efficiency and top speed, RedBull on the contrary seems to be looking for downforce. Indeed, from our calculations, a higher aerodynamic load index emerges for the RB18, which has never happened in any session held this year.
At the top we have the speed chart, below the relative gap (negative for Leclerc, positive for Verstappen). Impossible not to immediately notice the top speed on the main straight with Leclerc hitting 328 while Verstappen stops at 323. We double-checked and neither of them had trails, while the data confirmed that both were using the DRS. Obviously we do not know the engine maps used, and how much hybrid energy along the lap the two teams have chosen to direct to the main straight, but the anti-porpoising package brought by Ferrari seems to allow the car to be lowered and obtain more efficiency with the same aerodynamic load. The F1-75 is not yet perfect from the point of view of the mechanical set-up and for now it seems to suffer slightly under braking, so much so that Verstappen gains in turns 1-2, turns 5 and turns 7. This is also due to the high load level brought to the track for now by the Newey team. From an aerodynamic point of view, however, the Ferrari already seems to have a very good balance.
The terribly selective curve 4 shows gains in the order of 1 tenth for Leclerc, just as the stretch from curve 8 in full up to the braking of curve 10 make a significant difference in favor of Ferrari. Leclerc seems to be able to count on a little more grip in the fast corners, and at turn 9 he has the confidence to pass at 248 km / h, against the 241 of his Dutch rival. In the second extension, the rear straight, the top speeds are equivalent to 304 km / h, confirming that a lot of work has been done in Maranello to fill the speed gap without sacrificing the load. The last sector is then almost all in Leclerc’s favor even if Verstappen in that section found some traffic in his lap. You notice one more lively response in traction for the red number 16, also a sign that perhaps the Honda engine was lower in horsepower than the Ferrari engine, but at the same time there is also a good performance at turn 12, another extremely selective stretch for the cars. Verstappen seems to have something more in the last chicane, always gaining something under braking. However, this tells us that the two drivers are still very far from the limits of the car, so these first results remain impressions or a little more, to be confirmed in the next sessions.
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