The second free practice session of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix has perhaps more confused the cards on the table that clarify them. The first particular aspect that emerged is that the asphalt produces a level of adherence that no one expected and this means not only that all compounds work perfectly, but that the hard rubber stability brought by Pirelli to give the riders the best driving sensation and the greatest confidence needed to push hard between the walls. The result is that the times with the hard tire are results comparable to those with soft rubber, opening a long series of strategic options for qualification and race. In general Mercedes certainly appeared already in point, with the ability to push hard at will, especially with high fuel loads, while RedBull seemed to have found some problems to the front axle, with the front tires struggling to stay within the right temperature window during the fast lap. However, it is very early to draw conclusions. From the Mercedes data we noticed a conspicuous clipping, typical of the propulsion units introduced by Wolff’s team before the Brazilian Grand Prix, so for now the “super” engine seen at Interlagos should not be fitted to Hamilton’s car. On the other hand, Verstappen’s Red Bull still demonstrated a level of grip at times superior also at Mercedes, while Honda she once again proved extremely conservative in free practice and it would be wrong to think that the history of the weekend is already written. Verstappen has already shown a lot aggression in driving style and superlative performance in the (very few) guided sections of the runway. However, let’s see the direct comparison between Lewis Hamilton’s best lap data and Max Verstappen’s.
Mercedes better on the longitudinal, RedBull on the lateral – In general, from the data collected, the perception is of a RedBull able to withstand acceleration and load transfers very well. lateral. Verstappen is faster in almost all curves and particularly faster in the guided “S”, as and above all in the section that goes from curve 7 to curve 12, where the difference is very significant in favor of the Dutchman, who was also able to cover that stretch of track practically completely in full. Hamilton, on the other hand, is forced to play a lot with the accelerator to manage the rear of the car in sudden changes of direction. We can also see it well from the relative chart-map to the accelerator where it is particularly evident how the leader of the world rankings practically manages to keep the gas down even at the exit of turn 13 and in the change of direction 16-17 as opposed to the seven-time world champion who is always forced to partialize.
Furthermore the mean of lateral G forces that we have calculated along the tour, for example, it turns out to be superior of the 0.76% for Verstappen (the number appears small, but the differences are generally much less than 1%) to indicate a RB16B that still has a lot of performance precisely in changes of direction, thanks, too, to a truly Verstappen aggressive on the curbs and in general in the driving style. Conversely, the RB16B seemed to suffer compared to the W12 the most violent braking where you arrive from a straight, then those of turn 1 and turn 13, denoting a Mercedes very stable under braking and in traction, particularly at ease when load transfers and accelerations are along the longitudinal axis of the car, and thus revealing a mechanical trim basic probably very different than the RedBull. The work that the teams will now set up will significantly change performance and tomorrow we will see the two cars mounted on the Power Unit which will then be used in qualifying and the race, so only at that point will they start to uncover the cards more significantly.
Ferrari: good race pace, bad Leclerc’s bang – At Ferrari, the flying lap performance appeared neither too brilliant nor disastrous. Sainz he found a good time, albeit behind the two Alpines and far from Gasly’s surprising Alpha Tauri. The car performs well anyway, but aerodynamic instability of the rear, shown many times during the season (just think of Sainz’s accidents in free practice in Monza and Zandvoort), this time he betrayed Leclerc. However, the Monegasque took too many unnecessary risks and ended up crashing about 218 km / h according to what we have seen from the data, and forcing the mechanics to a night of super work. The race pace in any case, shown by the reds, it was not absolutely negative, certainly better than the performance on the flying lap.
In fact, on the long run front Hamilton was the result impregnable, but with a Verstappen little interested in performance with a full tank of fuel, it was Leclerc’s Ferrari that showed the second average on the best pace. A few laps they have been covered anyway and the attention of the teams seems to be once especially at the qualification, given the difficulty in overtaking on the Saudi track.
The Jeddah weekend still remains difficult to interpret therefore, and we will have to wait for the configurations which will be shown in free thirds to begin to have a clearer picture of performance levels. The particularly “clean” day from the point of view of accidents (with the sole exception of Leclerc) took some of the emphasis on track safety and problems in the event of accidents, but this topic remains to loom over the weekend, being able , any track situation, upset the balance at any time.
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