gp australia
Positive second free practice for Ferrari who does well in qualifying simulation and race pace with Leclerc, Sainz grits his teeth
22 mar 2024
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The Friday of F1 practice in Australia ends with Ferrari’s best time Charles Leclerc in Albert Park. In Melbourne, on a track with little grip that put several riders in difficulty, the Monegasque managed to finish 1:17.277 ahead of Red Bull in the time classification Max Verstappen by a good three tenths and the other SF-24 by Carlos Sainz (+0.430). Good performance by the Reds, with positive feedback in terms of qualifying simulation and race pace. In free practice, 1 fastest time was set by Norris, followed by Verstappen, Russell and Leclerc himself, but the session was marked by Albon’s accident, with the Williams hit the wall at 8th and heavily damaged. The Anglo-Thai was forced to withdraw from the second session.
FREE PRACTICES 2: FERRARI AHEAD, RED BULL STRUGGLES Friday’s free practice was positive for Ferrari, even if the first day of sessions was always tentative. But those who start well are halfway there and so it is possible to smile in the garages of the Maranello team, with the SF-24 responding well to the requests of
Charles
Leclerc. The Monegasque closed the second session ahead of
Max Verstappen with a generous three tenths of an advantage, followed by his teammate
Carlos
Sainz forced to grit his teeth. A little more effort for the Spaniard who has to find rhythm and confidence behind the wheel after the operation that forced him to miss the Arabian GP, but still a good performance. Performances which, compared to the Red Bulls, give rise to hope for Ferrari which was able to stay ahead even in qualifying simulation and race pace.
Returning to the session times, the Aston Martins also placed in the top 5
Stroll e
Alonsofollowed by the Mercedes of
Russell and McLaren’s
Plates. Only eighth
Sergio
Perezwho struggles on the Melbourne track, followed by
Norris e
Tsunoda to close the top 10 of the session. Bad
Hamilton, which does not go beyond the 18th time, but with a Mercedes that solves the bouncing problems by returning to the floor used in pre-season tests. But for the W15 there is a lot of work to do to close the gap in Australia.
BOOK 1: THE COMMAND OF NORRIS, ALBON FROM THE WALL
The first free practice session that took place during the Italian night, however, saw a good performance
Lando Norris’ McLarenwith the Briton’s MCL38 capable of imposing itself on Red Bull’s
Verstappen in
1:18.564 with 18 thousandths of an advantage. A balanced session in time, with the Mercedes of
Russell who conquers the third time with 33 thousandths of a gap from his compatriot and even five riders within one tenth. Among these also
Charles
Leclerc in Ferrari, with the Monegasque finishing fourth in a session that left him satisfied with what he achieved with his SF-24.
To find
Sainz we need to drop to eighth fastest, 122 thousandths behind McLaren, just ahead of the Mercedes of the future Ferrari
Lewis
Hamilton. The Spaniard struggled a bit to find the rhythm, but it was still a session that provided important ideas after returning to the track. Also closing the top 10 of the session
Tsunoda (5° a +0.057),
Perez (6° a +0.078),
Stroll (7th at +0.103) e
Plates (10° a +0.354).
A session, as mentioned, balanced in terms of timing but conditioned by several off-track situations, with Alonso and Verstappen among the most in difficulty. How difficulty was recorded for Williams’s
Albon that at the end of free practice 1
he hit the wall in turn 8. At the same point where last year he damaged his single-seater, the Anglo-Thai emerged unscathed from the FW46 which on the contrary was heavily damaged and forced to withdraw from the second free practice sessions. The accident was caused by a lack of grip when exiting the corner, with the curb deceiving the driver who immediately lost control of the car. A problem for Williams, who arrived in Melbourne with only one chassis and was forced to work hard to recover Albon’s car. Otherwise the decision will be taken from the pits to let only one of the former Red Bull and Sargeant race, with Albon ahead in the team’s preferences.
2024-03-22 06:48:28
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