Since the lights went out in the first free practice session in Miami, it was possible to perceive the great enthusiasm that permeates the stands surrounding the Hard Rock Stadium these days. The warmth of the US audience recalls for involvement what animates the European rounds of the championship, despite being of a profoundly different nature deriving from the predisposition of the American public to make the atmosphere around a sporting event an integral part of the show. Comments on the action on the track agree in defining the Florida track as treacherous, particularly with regard to the narrow central toboggan between turns 11 and 16. The main news on Friday in Miami, however, is the finding of a Mercedes. able to return, at least in practice, between the top positions together with Ferrari and Red Bull. The performance of the W13 will have to be confirmed when you start to get serious in qualifying and especially on the pace over the long distance in the race, but the behavior of the Mercedes of America shows signs of recovery, although they must be carefully interpreted.
The initial competitiveness of the Silver Arrows in Miami is attributable to several factors. In the first place, the porpoising has not completely disappeared, but it appeared significantly less pronounced and consequently less invasive not only for Mercedes, but for the entire starting fleet. Even Ferrari itself, among the cars that have shown the most evident rebounds on the straight since the beginning of the season, suffered from a limited hopping, which also occurred only when the DRS was closed and at high speeds. On the one hand, the low-load aerodynamic configurations contribute to the attenuation of the phenomenon, which limit the crushing of the car body to the ground as speed increases, which in turn contributes to the adoption of rigid mechanical structures to stabilize the aerodynamic platform in high mileage curves. It could be argued that porpoising was more evident in Jeddah, a track also characterized by rapid changes of direction and low load setups. However, in addition to the differences between the Saudi track and the American one, the learning path of the teams in the last six weeks should not be overlooked, which has led to a more effective prevention of the phenomenon.
The attenuation of the aerodynamic rebound thus freed Mercedes from the need to resort to radical compromise choices on the mechanical-aerodynamic set-up, such as stiffness and ground clearance, which in other conditions had forced the true potential of the W13. To this must be added the thermal aspect, with the team that at Imola complained of a chronic difficulty in getting the tires up to temperature. On the Friday in Miami the limiting factor for everyone was on the contrary overheating, with air temperatures close to 35 ° C and the asphalt constantly around 50 ° C. The reigning champions have not thus accused the same thermal management problems suffered in Italyan aspect which, combined with a generally less compromised set-up, has helped to bring the entire vehicle package into the optimal working window.
Last but not least, there is the update front. In Florida, the Brackley team has introduced a new straight-profile rear wing which, together with the beam wing resized, it guarantees a reduction in resistance to advancement. The top speeds had emerged as one of the main criticalities of the W13, caused by Allison’s own admission by a generously sized rear wing. So far in Miami the Silver Arrows have expressed speed peaks in line with Ferrari values, although still at a distance of between 5 and 10 km / h from the impregnable Red Bulls. However, it will be advisable to monitor whether Mercedes will be able to confirm itself on this front even when in qualifying they will play with their cards exposed without holding back the power units.
An update has also appeared at the front of the W13 whose application, contrary to the innovations introduced at the rear, may not be limited only to high-speed tracks such as that of Miami. The new front wing in fact denotes an intriguing design of the external bulkheads of the endplate, son of a shrewd interpretation of the technical regulation. The wing represents a leap forward in terms of efficiency compared to the previous specification, ensuring lower aerodynamic drag for the same load released. The most interesting aspect, however, is the different conditioning of the flows, in particular the sorting between the air directed above the car body and that diverted externally to the front wheels. The question is whether the different flow coming from the front has helped to correct the behavior of the bottom and to postpone the triggering of porpoising. In that case, the reasons for Mercedes’ competitiveness in Florida would not be limited to the characteristics of the track alone. The W13s could thus aspire to confirm progress even on a highly loaded track such as Barcelona, which is expected as a more significant test bed.
Ferrari brings home a Friday of consistent tests, with a job free from critical issues or particular hitches, with the exception of the impact of Carlos Sainz against the barriers. Predictably, the F1-75 performs well in the most driven sectors, in particular in the slow corners in succession where it is essential to be able to make the suspension group work properly. The only mystery for the Maranello team revolves around the rear wing: Mattia Binotto had announced the arrival of a lower wing in Florida, a novelty later confirmed by official FIA documents. From the images, however, the impression is that Ferrari has used the wings already available to the team, instilling the doubt whether the update has been postponed or whether instead it resides in a lighter construction of the wing profiles, with a gain in terms of weight more than aerodynamic.
Red Bull closes on a Friday with very little data, especially as regards Max Verstappen, due to overheating problems in FP1, which led to the replacement of the gearbox as a precaution, and hydraulic failure in PL2. The lack of information collected risks affecting the final set-up choices during the night and the learning path of the circuit.
The center-group is once again confirmed as unpredictable, with McLaren, AlphaTauri, Alfa Romeo and Alpine all potentially capable of aspiring to the role of fourth force. The French team in particular has introduced new wing appendages with greater load on the outside of the rear brake air intakes, of great importance by acting directly on the unsprung masses. Alfa Romeo, on the other hand, suffers from the impossibility of collecting data with Bottas in PL2 due to the impact in the first session.
Overall, the preparation for qualifying and the race promises to be decidedly tricky. The road surface, dotted with irregularities in various points, offers a very high level of grip in the trajectory, just as low but immediately outside the ideal driving line. The track itself will face rapid evolution with the progressive cleaning and accumulation of the tires in the trajectory, to which is added the unknown factor linked to the weather. The high temperatures on Friday influenced the work of the teams, but could go down in the last two days, during which the risk of rain is not excluded. A weekend therefore all to be interpreted, in which nothing has yet been written.
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