Does Formula 1 really need three hours of unrestricted practice on a grand prix weekend?
In F1’s endless meandering between whatever contentious topic is currently dominating discussions in the media pen as well as backroom meetings in the paddock, it’s now the turn of Friday’s free practice sessions to come under scrutiny. Regardless of how traditionalists may feel, it seems the era of three unrestricted hours of running each race weekend may not be long for this world.
It’s ironic, then, that despite two sessions taking place around Albert Park on Friday, there is such little meaningful data to use to paint a true picture of how the rest of the Australian Grand Prix weekend is likely to play out. Through a tumultuous blend of a green track, GPS glitches causing traffic problems, plus red flag disruptions and rainfall, teams found themselves more unsure than usual about their performance after Friday’s practice day.
Fast and loose
But one conclusion that was neither a mystery nor a surprise was that Red Bull have serious pace, demonstrated by Max Verstappen recording the fastest time on Friday. His best lap of 1’18.790, achieved on soft tyres, not only topped the charts in the first practice session but also remained unmatched throughout the second. Fernando Alonso was closest behind, registering a time merely a tenth of a second slower in the second practice, albeit on the theoretically slower medium compound tyres.
As one of the fastest circuits on the calendar with equal emphasis on front tyre load in corners and traction out of the few slow corners, Melbourne should be well-suited to the RB19. Indeed, Verstappen and team mate Sergio Perez topped the speed trap through the day – by 6km/h over Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes and almost 10km/h over Alonso’s Aston Martin.
But despite going quickest, Verstappen looked the least comfortable in the car than he had been at any point in the early season – even spinning on the exit of turn four late in the opening hour. The early championship leader admitted he struggled to keep his tyres happy in the unusually cooler conditions.
“It was quite tough to switch the tyres on” he explained, “so that was difficult when you want to push immediately.
“There were also quite a few interruptions with the red flags, so we never really got into a rhythm. It was difficult to tell how the car felt as we never got a window where I thought we were on top of…
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