As last week, teams found themselves working on Thursday evening in preparation for Saturday’s race. The Jeddah city track has very different characteristics compared to Bahrain. The asphalt, first and foremost, is much less abrasive and allows for the use of softer compounds. In addition, there are many fast corners with contained lateral accelerations that do not stress the tires. In preparation for this weekend’s race, all drivers simulated tire wear and long-distance pace simulations. Let’s now see, in this analysis, how the leading drivers performed in their race pace simulation during the second free practice session ahead of the Saudi Arabian GP.
The race pace simulations differed even within the same team. At Ferrari, the two drivers decided to work on the two softest compounds available for the Grand Prix. A similar approach was taken by Red Bull, with both drivers working on the medium tires. Max Verstappen, as we now know, is extremely effective over long distances with an improving trend over the 10 laps of his simulation.
The only flaw in his run was the sixth lap where the Dutchman performed a cool down, probably due to traffic. His teammate’s performance was much more variable, with similar but inconsistent times. Despite this, the race pace in the last laps of the simulation was excellent. Mercedes’ work is not assessable as Lewis Hamilton only completed 4 laps on the medium, with one very slow lap before returning. Fernando Alonso, despite an excellent performance on the single lap, had an upward trend over 12 laps with the yellow tire.
Ferrari Race Pace Simulation FP2 Saudi Arabia
At Ferrari, as mentioned earlier, the work was differentiated to assimilate as much data as possible ahead of Saturday’s race. Surely the rear wing, which provides a higher aerodynamic load, is one of the reasons for the excellent trend. Both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz showed a very positive race pace as the laps progressed.
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For the Monegasque, the simulation was carried out with the red tire used for the qualifying simulation, thus a rather stressed tire. Despite this, the times recorded by Leclerc were remarkable, with a best of 1:33.8, 1 tenth slower than Max Verstappen’s on the yellow. Ferrari’s excellent work started right from the introduction lap with a time that was not too demanding to avoid stressing the compounds. Carlos Sainz also showed a positive trend with times improving every lap.
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Looking at the averages, Red Bull remains the benchmark as expected, but Ferrari with Charles Leclerc could be close. Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez are slightly further back, about 4 tenths behind.
Source: f1ingenerale
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