Time for free training 1! Extra important, because the only one for qualifying for the main race!
Because we have another sprint race tomorrow, qualifying for the main race is already scheduled for tonight at 7 p.m. Free practice 1 is therefore the only opportunity to see how the car behaves on the São Paulo circuit before qualifying.
The race in Brazil last year was the last time that Mercedes won a Formula 1 race. George Russell was the last to stand on the top step of the podium on behalf of the team. Toto Wolff is confident and has his fingers crossed for a Lewis Hamilton victory. In this training, Mercedes can show what they can put on the track before the real deal in qualifying and tomorrow’s sprint race.
Bad weather coming: code orange
Code orange has been predicted in Brazil for later today. So that’s going to be exciting with the weather. Qualifying can therefore have very different weather than free practice. In any case, there will be a lot of wetness ahead. For now it is at least dry at the start of this only training for qualifying.
Threatening clouds are already hanging over the circuit, so at the start of free practice there is a whole queue at the end of the pit lane waiting to get out straight away.
There is already a strong wind and everyone is riding on the hard tire to first get a feel for the track. If there is some rubber on the asphalt, you may be able to switch to a softer compound. Provided it stays dry of course.
Flexing chair
Max Verstappen was at the front of the pit lane ready to be the first to take to the track. He quickly sets a competitive time, immediately positioning himself at the top of the split times where he belongs.
Max does have a little problem, he complains about a flexing seat in his Red Bull. The seat is not properly secured in the car. Not nice in the bends of course. Not dangerous according to the crew in the pit lane. He can safely stay outside for now.
After its first run, the car spends some time in the pits to resolve the problem. A seat that is fixed will probably also please the FIA safety people better.
Williams waits
The Williams initially remain in the pits. The car seems to do poorly with little grip, so perhaps the idea is to let the rest drive the track clean first.
But with only one free training session, it is still a special choice to wait so long to go outside. For Logan Sargeant and Alexander Albon, their training starts ten minutes later than the rest.
As mentioned, Wolff’s expectations are high for this weekend. The image in the first part of the free training certainly seems to meet his expectations. After Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell follow closely.
The moment Yuki Tsunoda puts the first mediums under, he immediately sets a faster time than Verstappen with the Alpha Tauri. When his seat is secured again, Max comes out again on the hard tire and immediately sets a faster time than Tsunoda.
Halfway through
After half an hour, George Russell is immediately faster on medium tires and old man Alonso is slightly slower than Russell on the hard tire, but faster than Verstappen. For example, halfway through the free practice, Russell is at 1, Alonso at 2 and Verstappen at 3.
Haas and Interlagos
At Haas, a soft tire is placed first for the second half of the training. Magnussen immediately sets the third fastest time. Last year Magnussen surprised with a pole position at Interlagos, curious to see what will happen this time.
Small incident between Nico Hulkenberg, also from Haas, and Lando Norris from McLaren. Norris passes Hulkenberg in the corner, but the German did not see him coming. They hit each other with the front tire on the rear tire, so luckily the damage is not too bad. Good for the adrenaline, because the next lap Hulkenberg sets a second fastest time at that moment. Faster than teammate Magnussen.
Haas drivers stay outside for a long time and also do well on the softs. Until fifteen minutes before the end of FP1, they are number 2 and 3 in the rankings. But they are still the only ones on softs.
Tyres
During the last fifteen minutes you expect everyone to lose their softs. If there is only one training session then you would think you want to see all the tires on the track. However, Max has been riding on hard tires throughout the training. Verstappen drives many laps, but with those hard tires drops far back to sixteenth.
Five minutes before time there is a lot of different rubber on the track. Softs really are the fastest it seems. Just before the end, Carlos Sainz on soft tires in his Ferrari set a faster time than Russell on his medium tire. That time was at the top for a long time, so does that bode well for the rest of the weekend for Mercedes? Sainz’s teammate, Charles Leclerc, also set a second fastest time in the final minutes of free practice. Also on the softs.
Did anything else exciting happen then? Mwoh, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton have a flat tire. The visor of Sargeant’s helmet was not good, so he had to change his helmet and later there was also a problem with his rear suspension. Furthermore, there was a lot of tinkering with the boards, especially after the disqualification of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc last week, it has everyone’s attention.
The conclusion after the first free training is that we have looked at a distorted picture. Not everyone has tried all the tires and there is a lot of wind. If it still rains, we could have a very interesting qualifying for the main race tonight.
Result Grand Prix Brazil Free Practice 1
- Carlos Sainz (1:11:732)
- Charles Leclerc (1:11.840)
- George Russell (1:11.865)
- Niko Hulkenberg (1:11,928)
- Alexander Albon (1:12.044)
- Lance Stroll (1:12.136)
- Pierre Gasly (1:12.184)
- Guanyu Zhou (1:12,481)
- Logan Sargeant (1:12.579)
- Kevin Magnussen (1:12.592)
- Fernando Alonso (1:12.615)
- Lewis Hamilton (1:12.638)
- Yuki Tsunoda (1:12.714)
- Daniel Ricciardo (1:12.778)
- Estaban Ocon (1:12,779)
- MAX VERSTAPPEN (1:12.793)
- Valtteri Bottas (1:13.012)
- Sergio Pérez (1:13.056)
- Lando Norris (1:13.629)
- Oscar Piastri (1:13.838)
This article GP Brazil 2023 free training: code orange coming first appeared on Autoblog.nl.
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