If we were expecting confirmation, the results of the third free practice session did not give us any, on the contrary they created a situation quite confusing to decipher. Verstappen, yesterday in difficulty on the flying lap, showed a superb performance in the qualifying discipline both at the beginning of the session with medium tires and at the end with soft tires, keeping the Ferrari even almost 4 tenths away. On the other hand, the two Red Bulls tested a long-run of several laps and the findings on tire degradation were very similar, if not worse, to those we saw happening to the Ferraris in their simulation. Leclerc then appeared a bit difficult to control his car, but putting together the information collected, we still try to extract some more considerations after this confusing and complicated session to translate.
Let’s start with the telemetry data, comparing Verstappen And Sainz, better of the two Ferrari drivers. Immediately emerges, in a preponderant way, a trend that sees Verstappen significantly faster in the extension, even from 250 km / h onwards in the two rear straights and instead a much faster Sainz in practically all the curves of the track apart from the last one. The white line at the bottom indicates the gap between the two drivers, and it is evident how it constantly increases in the central phase of the lap, with a weight of the straights on the final lap time of around 4-5 tenths. This already brings the absolute question back to the relationship between the aerodynamic loads and the expressed powers. We obviously do not know the engine modes chosen by the teams in this session, but the return to many pre-updated aerodynamic components by the Newey team also seems to indicate the renunciation of some load points in the name of a better balance of the car, with the consequent reopening of the scissor in the straights. We will see in qualifying if these data are confirmed or if, by raising the power level, the situation will level out in length, giving Ferrari much more advantage at that point given the feedback in the corners.
Ferrari very focused on the race – The situation for Leclerc is slightly more particular and an interesting detail emerges from listening to the pilot’s radio teams. The Monegasque carried out a first part of the session with a medium-low fuel load and a hard tire, simulating the last part of the race and collecting data on the hard compound. Leclerc liked the car in those conditions and was still docile to drive, a little more “deaf” to any aggressive attacks on the corners. However, mounting the soft for the simulation of a single lap, the Monegasque went into difficulty. The car has become hyper-reactive, with an extremely precise front (a sign that Ferrari is trying to protect it from a race point of view) but a slightly too light rear. What is interesting is that Leclerc did not try to change the set-up but asked the pits to make laps with the soft compound to learn how to drive the car with that tire, defining the transition from hard to soft with a dirty word. Ferrari therefore seems to have sought in night work an ideal balance for the race, with Leclerc (the only driver of the red to compete in the entire qualifying given Sainz’s penalty) who will try to adapt the driving style to the soft tire, with the obvious awareness that from a race point of view, pace and less degradation will make an enormously greater difference compared to a starting position. We will see shortly if these impressions are confirmed or not.
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