The Friday in the analysis
It’s already 11:45 p.m. in Saudi Arabia, so we’re going to close our ticker at this point. It works for you on the Formel1.de YouTube channel but further!
Kevin Scheuren and Christian Nimmervoll are now reporting with their large video analysis. The two have the following topics in their luggage today:
-Longrun data analysis
-Result & Votes
-Hamilton loses caretaker
-Wolff in the FIA-PK
-Krise AlphaTauri
-More F1 news
-Comeback Ralf Schumacher
-Questions from channel members
And a quick preview of tomorrow: FT3 is at 2:30 p.m. local time, qualifying at 6:00 p.m. And of course we’ll get back to you in the morning with a new ticker.
Have a nice evening, have fun with our analysis and see you tomorrow!
Secret favorite Alpine?
Maybe not necessarily for victory, but with P4 and P6 it was a good result for the French not only in the timesheets. The long runs also seem to fit. “Our Friday was productive,” reports Esteban Ocon.
You’ve tried different things “that will help us in qualifying and in the race,” he emphasizes and explains: “So far the car feels strong and I think we can get even more out of qualifying tomorrow night.”
Teammate Gasly is also “satisfied” after P6 and explains: “The car feels good. We have a good idea in which direction we want to go with the set-up.” He also announces that there is still room for improvement.
We are excited!
Williams: Another chance for points?
It was P14 and P18 for Albon and Sargeant today and according to Norris, Williams is definitely ahead of McLaren. “It was a very positive day. There’s definitely pace in the car,” explains Albon.
He is “optimistic”, he says and explains that the qualifying run in FT2 was still a bit lacking. “But everything else feels pretty good,” said Albon, who summed it up: “I don’t want to speak too soon, but the car feels pretty good.”
“So let’s see how it goes,” laughs Albon. After all, his teammate and rookie sargeant already knows the track from Formula 2. His day also went “quite smoothly”, according to the American.
“The pace doesn’t look too bad and hopefully we can build on that,” he said, cautiously optimistic.
Norris: Almost finished last
Lando Norris is less optimistic after P12 today. “I didn’t manage my lap in the first practice session. But it’s tight. Only two tenths of a second separated me from last place. If I had made a small mistake, I would have been last,” he explains.
“It’s tight in midfield. Alpine is in front of the entire midfield, and Williams also seems to be significantly faster than us,” he muses and explains: “The car feels okay. I have a few balance problems, but we’re making the best of the situation.”
Doesn’t sound very confident…
“Solid”: Haas satisfied after P8 and P15
Nico Hulkenberg made it into the top 10 today in eighth place and explains: “We had a clean Friday – no major incidents, incidents or problems.” The pace over one lap looks “competitive”, according to the German.
The long runs, on the other hand, are a bigger challenge. That was also the case in Bahrain. “So that’s our focus now,” he emphasizes, and teammate Magnussen says, despite P15, that the day was “good”.
The goal is Q3, explains the Dane, and team boss Günther Steiner reports: “It was a very solid FT1 and FT2 today. There were no problems at all, we unwound the whole program.”
But he also admits that “a little more performance” still needs to be found.
AlphaTauri: Just behind the top 10
P13 and P17 today for Tsunoda and de Vries. According to the Japanese, AlphaTauri is a bit behind the teams “who are constantly fighting for P10.” But Tsunoda reminds, “We still have one more day to put it all together.”
“There were no major problems in FT1 and FT2, but we know that we have to find more performance in the car. Even if Q3 is the goal, Q2 is more possible tomorrow than last week in Bahrain,” said Tsunoda.
“Ultimately tonight we will analyze all the data to see how we can improve our performance. The tire wear doesn’t seem to be as bad as expected so we can go full throttle,” he said aggressively.
Team-mate de Vries drove on the street circuit for the first time and therefore still has some catching up to do. But it was also a “productive” day for him.
In theory …
… By the way, Alonso would have been much closer to Verstappen. Down to 0.044 seconds to be exact! My colleague Kevin Hermann once worked this out in this overview.
By the way, it’s only a small foretaste, because in ours Video analysis from 9:45 p.m we will of course also analyze the long runs in detail for you again!
Marko: “I hope it will be enough”
“We are satisfied,” said the Austrian after Friday on “Sky” and explained: “I think we found the right way in the vote.” But he also emphasizes that the field is “much closer together”.
“And the tire output, the wear, is also lower than it was in Bahrain. I think Ferrari hasn’t turned up the engine fully yet,” muses Marko and explains that you don’t have half a second left in your back hand.
“No, we haven’t. It will definitely be closer, but I hope it will be enough,” said Marko.
Russell: Won’t find a second overnight
Hamilton’s teammate is also not very optimistic about the Jeddah weekend. “Red Bull is definitely in front,” said Russell, even if of course you don’t know who was on the road with how much power.
He definitely doesn’t see a chance to win. “We won’t find a second overnight,” he clarifies. It’s simply about getting the maximum out of the package and optimizing the set-up.
“We had some test parts on the car in FT2,” he reveals, but also makes it clear that these are just “little things”. In order to improve the car in the long term, you need significantly more time.
Hamilton: Problems in both sessions
The record champion reports after P11 in FT2 that it was the same game as in Bahrain. He’s about a second behind the leader. “I definitely struggled in the session. I struggled in both sessions,” he explains.
So now it’s about improving the balance, “um [das Auto] make it easier to drive,” says Hamilton, who emphasizes: “It’s just a difficult car to drive. But I know that everyone in the factory works hard.”
“So it’s only a matter of time, we just have to be patient,” he said combatively. Even if the W14 is currently not much better to drive than the W13 …
Alonso: Friday means nothing
Will the Spaniard also be the first Red Bull pursuer in qualifying tomorrow? He himself curbs expectations and explains: “Friday is never very representative. In Bahrain we were P1 on Friday, and in qualifying we were P5, almost P6.”
So you can’t make a serious forecast until qualifying. “The balance is still not ideal,” he admits. Nevertheless, as in Bahrain, it was a “good start” for Aston Martin.
However, he has “no idea” where you stand in comparison to the other teams. “I just drive the car and then in qualifying I see where I am,” he explains pragmatically.
Verstappen: It won’t be as clear as in Bahrain
“We had a positive day,” summed up the world champion after his best time. “But there are still a few things we can do better,” he said. Overall, the field is closer together than in Bahrain.
“It’s more about handling the tyres. You can’t really push here at the moment and I think the lap times are all very close on a track with low tire wear,” he predicts.
Conclusion: “So it’s definitely not like Bahrain.” A little more tension at the front would of course be desirable for us!
The scene between Sainz and Perez…
… is available here again in the video. I have the feeling that it’s only a matter of time before things get really bad here…
Chandhok: Ferrari hasn’t shown everything yet
Expert Karun Chandhok explains to ‘Sky’: “I think Ferrari has held back.” He suspects that recent reliability problems have kept the engines from revving up today.
He therefore expects the Reds to be able to fight for pole tomorrow – just like Fernando Alonso. And what about George Russell and Lewis Hamilton? “It’s really hard to read Mercedes,” said Chandhok.
Because while Russell just finished fifth, Hamilton ended up outside the top 10 in FT2. So what’s closer to real Mercedes pace…?
Wolff: We still have a maximum of five races
Exciting statement by Toto Wolff on ‘Sky’. There the Mercedes team boss explains: “We are now before the second race […]. Writing off a racing season so early is certainly wrong.”
“But at the moment the deficit is huge and if we don’t make it [die Lücke] in the next four or five races, then the World Championship train has also left,” Wolff clarifies.
That means: If Mercedes doesn’t have a winning car in Imola at the latest, then you can probably tick off the 2023 season.