While the first free practice session provided fluctuating insights into the strengths of the teams, with eight drivers within less than a tenth and a half of each other, FP2 painted a much clearer picture. In Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, we saw some cars powered by the Mercedes Power Unit in the very top positions, but in Australia, the interim classification gave way to the two reference teams of this early season, namely Red Bull and Ferrari.
Charles Leclerc finished at the top with a nearly four-tenths advantage over the other weekend favorite, Max Verstappen, who appeared to struggle more in finding the right setup at the end of a Friday that wasn’t as smooth as hoped. However, the most significant news is that the SF-24 appeared competitive and well-balanced right from the start of the day, leading the Monegasque to remark how this Ferrari is in a better position compared to the first two races.
The Australian track, while maintaining city circuit characteristics, has over the years transformed, adding elements that have made it a rather complex circuit with a good mix of slow, fast, and medium-speed corners. Additionally, two unique elements come into play here: the relatively high curbs, to be leveraged in the fight against the clock, and strong winds that can compromise the balance in some critical points depending on the direction.
However, as in the first two world championship events, a specific trend continues to be observed in Melbourne in terms of the strengths and weaknesses of each car. For example, the SF-24 continues to be a consistent car, especially in medium-speed corners, which are certainly not lacking on a track like the Australian one. Even in the faster sections, the Red does not perform poorly in absolute terms, as was already observed in Jeddah, but one of the main differences is that here, at least on Friday, the disadvantage on the straights seems very contained, even with the DRS open.
Indeed, both on the main straight and on the stretch between the second and third sectors, the RB20 and the SF-24 showed very similar top speeds. Curiously, in contrast to what was seen in the first two GPs, the teams powered by the Mercedes PU did not use more aggressive mappings, so they show lower maximum speeds on the straights compared to the two reference teams. At this point, it is therefore legitimate to wonder, given that there are no big differences on the straights, where those nearly 4 tenths inflicted by Charles Leclerc on Max Verstappen come from.
The first point of comparison can already be appreciated in turn one, where often throughout the day a troublesome tailwind was recorded, clearly removing stability both in braking and cornering for the drivers, returning a feeling of less confidence at the wheel. Moreover, it’s one of those points where the tendency to suffer from understeer, especially mid-corner, where indeed both the Dutchman and Sergio Perez showed some signs of difficulty, opting to sacrifice cornering phase for a better exit.
On the contrary, Ferrari manages to carry more speed into the mid-corner, even if this slightly penalizes the traction phase, where Red Bull manages to be slightly more effective. Throughout the session, great attention was paid to this last aspect by the engineers of the Prancing Horse, who, especially with Leclerc, attempted to optimize the braking point to find a good balance between entry and exit.
However, one of the most interesting stretches is the one that concludes the first sector time, because it provides the opportunity to expand on the reasoning regarding the experiments made by Red Bull, particularly with Sergio Perez, given that Max Verstappen’s day was somewhat influenced by the damage to the floor incurred in FP1. Initially, both drivers had reported some difficulties in the high-speed corners, so the technicians intervened trying to make significant setup changes. This, however, changed the characteristics of the car, finding performance in the faster sections at the expense of those in the slower zones. The lack of grip in the slow sections, as well as the precision problems on the front axle, negatively affected the sequence: in turn three, Charles Leclerc once again manages to be more incisive in terms of braking and cornering speed, while Verstappen is forced into a less aggressive trajectory.
This is a factor to keep in mind for the rest of the lap, because it doesn’t only present itself in the first sector, but also in the last sector time, more specifically towards the end, where drivers began to feel the grip of the front left tire decrease. It’s precisely the left side where drivers from various teams have highlighted greater difficulties in terms not only of pure degradation but also of graining, because with such soft tires, one step softer compared to last year, Pirelli was expecting this phenomenon to occur. It is no coincidence that the teams chose to conserve the sets of hard tires in view of the race, since it is a compound less subject to the formation of graining.
Some teams have highlighted more significant issues with the front end, while others have struggled more with the rear end, especially during the long runs, making it interesting to see which axis will be prioritized for protection in view of the race. In the case of Red Bull, the major difficulties seem to be focused on the front end, with a more stable rear end. Observing the telemetry data, Ferrari tends to push harder on entry and in the first phase of the corner, slightly sacrificing the exit. The only section where the RB20 has a more substantial advantage is on the fastest part of the track, namely the change of direction composed of turns 9 and 10, incidentally where Verstappen damaged the bottom and part of the chassis of his car, forcing him to miss the first twenty minutes of FP2. Generally, these high-speed sections with quick direction changes, requiring great stability, are one of the strengths of the RB20, as was already seen in Sakhir and Jeddah.
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