John N
The 2022 Australian Grand Prix kicked off on Friday in Albert Park, Melbourne with two free practice sessions. Ferrari duo of Sainz and Leclerc had plenty of paces on the topping the first and second practice sessions respectively with world champion Max Verstappen just hanging in there to complete the top three.
Here are 4 lessons from the practice sessions in Albert Park, Melbourne.
- Mercedes problem continues
Mercedes has admitted that its start to the 2022 season looks set to continue in Melbourne – where the reigning world champions finished nearly a second off the pace on low fuel as they struggled in the high-speed stuff. Their race pace is marginally better, as they push above Alpine into third, but it’s still 0.8s per lap slower than Ferrari and Red Bull, which means challenging for the podium looks like it will be a step too far. Lewis Hamilton was downbeat after practice, the Briton saying that “nothing you change on the car makes a difference at the moment”, while his teammate George Russell admitted he’s suffering from porpoising of “the worst kind”.
Lewis Hamilton goes wide and shows off his gravel rallying skills! 😅#AusGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/RP2xhznYEP
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 8, 2022
- Ferrari’s blistering form continues
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz stated that their car does not handle well on the track’s newly added fast turns. On Thursday, it was proven true, as the Red Bull team proved to be faster than the Ferrari team on the new high-speed section from Turns 6 through to the new Turns 9 and 10. However, the Ferrari team is faster in slow and medium-speed turns. Both drivers still have work to do as they search for more comfort behind the wheel, with Sainz saying that he is experiencing porpoising when he is at full throttle. Also, both teams are searching for an advantage in qualifying runs using soft tires, as both teams go faster on a second or third run with cool-down laps in between.
Verstappen and Leclerc 👀
A taste of what's to come this weekend, perhaps? 😅#AusGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/bWzPoze3cn
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 8, 2022
- Perez struggling with the car balance
Red Bull was edged out by Ferrari in the second practice session, but both teams are confident they are fast enough to challenge for pole position. Max Verstappen would have matched Leclerc’s time had he not encountered traffic on one of his qualifyings runs, and the two were only separated by 0.01s in our race simulation rankings. Meanwhile his teammate Sergio Perez was more frustrated, hinting the car felt better in FP1 than FP2 as they headed in the wrong direction with set-up – but he remained optimistic his team can find “a few tenths” that he felt would turn the weekend in their favor.
- McLaren surprisingly faster
McLaren has made small steps forward since their miserable experience with the front axle in Bahrain. While they are small, further improvement in the understanding of their package has hauled them into contention not only for Q3 but also in the fight for points on Sunday. That’s good news for local fans, who dream of a big result for their hero Daniel Ricciardo. He was coy about his expectations for this weekend, despite the orange cars showing a turn of pace that few expected. Over one lap, they appear to have the sixth fastest car, but had Lando Norris hooked up all of his best sectors, he would have been the sixth quickest of all. Race pace is less impressive, with McLaren being the second slowest on the straights and both drivers are feeling reasonably confident with the car – and there is the caveat that McLaren rarely shows their true colors on a Friday.
