After the speed of Spa, Formula 1 lands on the winding and demanding track of Zandvoort. In the first free practice session, Max is absent of honor Verstappen, forced to stop after a few laps due to a gearbox problem. The absence of car number 1 takes away from us one of the most anticipated references for the session, but seeing the particularly marked difficulty of Perez, the impression of these very first kilometers of the weekend is that the Red Bull does not have the huge advantage seen in the last race. The second session, however, will probably clarify this doubt.
From the first hour on the track, a little surprisingly, one appears Mercedes appeared particularly fit. First Russell, second Hamilton, confirming a W13 that seems to like the Zandvoort track, and that also showed a good race pace in the short simulation done with a high fuel load carried out towards the end of the session. Third was classified Ferrari by Carlos Sainz, who seems to have started the weekend a bit like in Spa, very fit and very comfortable with the track. Leclerc, on the other hand, seems to be still in a phase of learning the track, for now behind his teammate at work with the set-up. Going to see the data of the comparison between Sainz and Russell in detail, however, we can see a series of interesting details.
Russell builds the gap on Sainz with great differences in the first and third sectors, particularly “localized”. The Englishman tackles the braking of curve 1 in a much more aggressive way (and we always remember that with this year’s cars braking you can earn a lot), but above all in the section that goes from the exit of the historic Tarza curve to at the entrance to the Hugenholtz complex (the crazy high banking turn 3). Sainz, in fact, lifts his foot first in turn 2, giving the impression of a excess of caution. Last year, in free practice, the Spaniard crashed exactly in this point and the impression is that for now he has had a cautious approach in that section in order not to take risks. The fast section of curves 4-5-6 is then even between the two cars, but the gap of over 4 tenths built in the two points previously mentioned closes the sector very much to Russell’s advantage. The central sector, on the other hand, is entirely the prerogative of Ferrari, especially in high load curves. Already at turn 7 Sainz has a considerable speed delta in his favor (13 km / h), even more marked in the transition to 8. We recall that last year it was the Spaniard who took the first turn 7 in full in qualifying and it will be interesting to see how far the drivers can go with the maximum load conditions with the 2022 cars. Even in turns 9 and 10 Sainz is faster than Russell, in fact closing the central sector almost bringing the time situation back to balance. Again though, in the third sector Russell re-emerges making a significant difference in the tightest corners of the circuit, 11 and 12, which will provide an interesting reference for the mechanical set-up of the cars. Perhaps, to occur in the next sessions, an effect of the directive 39, with Ferrari forced to be more rigid on the suspension and therefore less performing in the very tight, compared to a Mercedes particularly on the ball in that stretch. Coming out of 13 then, diving into the last elevated corner, Sainz makes a small mistake with the rear suspension that breaks down and forces the Spaniard to reshape the pressure on the gas, leaving Russell a speed advantage throughout the curve and the final straight. . Both drivers then completed turn 14 in full with DRS open without apparent difficulty, so we imagine that this configuration will be maintained by the Federation for the whole weekend. As for the mapping, looking at the data, the impression is that Ferrari is as always very conservative in free practice, compared to a slightly more aggressive Mercedes (which can be seen, for example, in the traction out of turn 10).
In conclusion, waiting for Verstappen’s reference, Mercedes appears in shape on a track that is evidently pleasing to the W13, but at the same time a couple of key points in its favor and a mapping apparently a step more thrust than Ferrari. The red did well in the corners and in the downforce sections, but appeared with a set-up to improve mechanically for slower and tighter curves. In general, however, Wolff’s team seems able to be in the game for the top positions, even if you can guess which ones just by looking at the progress of the next sessions.
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