(Motorsport-Total.com) – At the inaugural Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid, a fairly clear picture is emerging at the front. The Mercedes team not only won both Free Practice sessions on Friday but also made a strong statement in the important long runs at the end of the afternoon.
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George Russell was the fastest long-run driver with a heavy fuel load. His closest pursuer was – adjusted for different tire compounds and stint lengths – Red Bull driver Max Verstappen. The Dutchman was only 0.13 seconds slower per lap. The third fastest long-run driver was championship leader Kimi Antonelli. However, he was already 0.55 seconds per lap behind Russell.
The race simulations were disappointing across the board for Ferrari and McLaren. Both Ferraris lost around nine tenths per lap to Mercedes. Oscar Piastri was even 1.51 seconds slower per lap in his long run. Teammate Lando Norris was unable to complete any long runs due to technical problems.
Has Mercedes not shown everything yet?
A look at last weekend in Italy should be worrying for the competition. There, Mercedes was still level with Ferrari in the long runs on Friday, while McLaren was only two tenths behind. On race Sunday, however, the Silver Arrows were finally eight tenths per lap faster than both teams.
Mercedes traditionally seems to show less on Fridays than the competition. This could be a bad omen for the rest of the weekend. However, caution is also advised: The track in Madrid is new, so bigger setup changes are expected by Saturday.
The competition also seems closer to Mercedes on a fast lap. Adding up the fastest sector times of all drivers, Charles Leclerc could theoretically have set a best time of 1:33.478. Of the top 6 drivers, only Arvid Lindblad was able to combine all his best sectors into one lap. Mercedes also had room for improvement.
Does Mercedes have better battery management?
Nevertheless, the question arises where Mercedes’ clear advantage – especially in the long runs – comes from. The answer seems clear: The competition loses too much time in the last sector.
Mercedes was already able to set the best time in the third sector during qualifying simulations. With a heavy fuel load, this advantage can apparently be further increased.
A look at the telemetry data shows that Mercedes seems to use less energy from the battery in the first sector. Still, the team is only marginally slower there than the competition. In the last sector, however, Mercedes has a clear top speed surplus, which seems to pay off especially in the long run mapping.
While Mercedes shines in the last sector, Ferrari scores in the first sector. Max Verstappen and Red Bull are particularly strong in the fast second sector. Only McLaren presents itself consistently too slow in all three sectors.
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Midfield: Where did Haas suddenly come from?
The headlines in the midfield were once again written by Racing Bulls on Friday – and for two reasons. On the one hand, Arvid Lindblad finished fourth in the second practice, only 0.228 seconds behind. On the other hand, the rookie shortly after caused a heavy crash including a red flag.
As a result, Racing Bulls could not complete truly representative long runs. Teammate Yuki Tsunoda was also on a different program and completed his qualifying and race simulation in a single stint with probably low fuel load.
Thus, Haas actually showed the best long-run pace in the midfield. Esteban Ocon was only 0.92 seconds per lap slower than George Russell in Mercedes during his stint. This put the Frenchman practically on par with the Ferraris.
Behind them follow Alpine (+1.60), Audi (+2.20), Williams (+2.58), Cadillac (+4.00), and Aston Martin (+4.33) with partly considerable deficits. But caution is also advised here given the Madrid ring’s premiere. Setup changes could still significantly shift the balance of power.
“Six stops”: Is a tire battle looming in Madrid?
Not only the performance of some teams surprised on Friday, but also the behavior of the tires. As a street circuit with actually smooth asphalt, high tire wear was not initially expected. But this could now look different.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff explained on Sky: “At the beginning it was tricky because the track has so much grip, even though it is brand new asphalt. And interestingly, we have the opposite problem than we expected. We can’t quite get the tire up to temperature. It takes a lap and then it gets a bit better. But of course, the tire degradation is incredible, then because of the grip.”
On a more detailed inquiry, Wolff spoke of “eight tenths degradation per lap” in the first free practice. “We’ve never seen that before,” said the Austrian. “Our strategy chief said six stops. But I think in the end it will be one stop.”
Nevertheless, degradation in the second free practice long runs was around three tenths per lap. Currently, this speaks more for two stops than one. However, increasing driving time should provide more grip on the track, which could reduce tire degradation as the weekend progresses.
How unclear the tire situation still is is also shown by a contradictory statement from Pirelli sports director Dario Marrafuschi, also on Sky: “The grip of the asphalt is really good, so we will most likely have less wear than expected.”
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