What the data says
Finally it was possible to run on a dry track on the splendid circuit of Montreal Canadafor the last free practice session before qualifying.
The activity on the track was obviously fervent given the only hour available before entering parc fermé and what the teams showed is, once again this year, interesting to analyse. Let’s start, as always, from data analysis of the best lap of the top teams to try to more accurately interpret what was seen on the track.
Mercedes pushes and hits the window: will it resist the evolution of the track?
Lewis Hamilton’s first half is one that makes you jump on your seat. A real “tempo” from the seven-time world champion who shows off a W15 that seems to have hit the window of use perfectly. The Englishman obviously used an engine mode enough push for its simulation, but it is not in traction or extension that the number 44 extends over the competition, but rather in the various curves of the track. A peculiarity of the Montreal corners is that they are practically all Ss, and in these passages Hamilton shows that he perfectly sets up the entrance to the first corner, and then has good reactivity of the car in the change of direction to constantly gain throughout the entire curve. competition in the second corner. We see it markedly at turns 1-2 and 8-9, but Brackley’s car shows good grip on both axles practically across the entire track. We see that there are no particular advantages in extension, nor in traction, given that the gains in exit seem to depend more on how Hamilton manages to get out of the various Ss, and this makes us think that the car had a lot of grip, especially in exploiting the new tires, and no particular engine modes. The unknown for Toto Wolff’s team will be the evolution of the track: so far Mercedes has shown very narrow optimal operating windows, and (rain aside) the track should change significantly during qualifying, as the to rubber. This could quickly take the W15 out of the window as we have seen happen in similar situations, so it will be interesting to see both whether Mercedes remains competitive in qualifying and whether it will be so throughout the session, given the expected evolution of the track.
RedBull for now with good “antidotes” to its weaknesses, McLaren hidden but apparently fast
If Max Verstappen’s Red Bull did not appear as devastating as we are used to seeing it, she didn’t even seem to be in difficulty like in the last few races. The balance between the car’s set-up and the Dutchman’s driving seems to be a recipe that definitely limits the RB20’s problems, especially on curbs, with Verstappen tackling them with a middle ground between their “violent” aggression and the “go around it”, but which allows it to bring high cornering speeds and good performance in general. Traction was already a strong point of the Milton Keynes car and cornering grip doesn’t seem to be lacking, a sum of factors that puts Verstappen among the very favorites for pole, although there is still much to discover. One of the things still to be discovered this weekend is the potential of McLaren, which recorded the best time on the soft tire on the third attempt, so when the “good” of the tire had already passed, yet with excellent results, both in curves that often extend, showing good strength on both axles. The decisive factor for the Woking team could be the aggression of the curbs, but the general performance does not seem to be lacking.
Ferrari finds itself in difficulty
After a first day in which the riders’ sensations were decidedly positive, so much so that some declarations of confidence for the weekend emerged, the test of the dry track in free practice it didn’t go as planned for the Maranello team. There are no particular losses in traction or extension, nor in cornering, with a lack of grip that appears particularly evident. Leclerc leaves around two tenths already at turns 1-2 and almost as much at turns 8-9. The Monegasque’s worried radio team seems consistent with what we see from the data, the SF24 lacks grip, almost as if it lacked downforce. The tire start-up probably still needs to be optimized, but the continuation of these difficulties throughout the lap (with the last chicane crossed by Leclerc even 14 km/h slower than the competition) seems to indicate that the set-up also needs to be modified . For example, this effect could be generated by a height from the ground that is too high to improve passage over curbs, but this is, obviously, only our hypothesis. An important issue will be, also for the red, the evolution of the track: a track that is rubberizing a lot, as is expected to happen (always rain permitting) should be very favorable to Ferrari, as we have seen happen in the past also for Red Bull or Mercedes, but the choice of how much grip to entrust to the evolution of the track and how much to improve the general set-up of the car is a delicate choice, which the Maranello engineers must now face quickly. Qualification is once again undecided. Verstappen remains among the favorites but McLaren is not to be underestimated, and Mercedes will try to enter the fight for once, while we will see if Ferrari has managed to solve the problems and find the right balance to once again give an entertaining and fought
#FP3 #telemetry #Mercedes #isnt #joking #Ferrari #difficulty
