Ferrari F1-75 car was fastest in medium and slow corners

After some ups and downs during the three free practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya, Scuderia Ferrari finished the qualifying session for the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix by taking the pole position. Charles Leclerc pushed back the pressure after the mistake at the chicane and used his one shot to put together an incredible lap. The Monegasque driver has put together all his best sectors and will start in first position with Max Verstappen alongside and his Maranello teammate Carlos Sainz in third place.

Three tenths between Charles and the world champion is a lot, however the Dutchman was unable to respond due to a malfunction of the DRS, a problem that is not entirely new at Red Bull. Probably Max Verstappen would have been able to go below 1.19, but more difficult to beat the time of Ferrari.

Charles Leclerc got the Pole through an excellent preparation, good tire management in the first sector, without overdoing it and a perfect final part. He is one of those drivers who knows how to make the most of the last minute. He seems to transform anxiety into positive energy, in a natural way, it is not something you can learn or totally linked to experience. He probably still prevails in that sheer fun of completing laps instead of the pressure.

So far, victory has been a matter between the top two.
In Barcelona, those in the lead can usually manage the pace a little better, also helped by the last slow sector which takes downforce awaye from those who follow. Despite this, the 2022 cars showed how much less prohibitive it is to stay in the slipstream between nearby cars in terms of performance.

That said, the race will be decided by the tire management and some unknowns should not be underestimated. There are those related to Ferrari’s race pace, which however should have improved a lot. The technicians clearly saw that the direction on Friday was wrong. Too much energy on the tires ignited overheating early rather than controlling it, leading in short to sliding rather than guaranteeing mechanical grip. Once triggered, there was no way to go back. More mechanical than aerodynamic. In FP3 the balancing used gave a positive result.

The updates used on the F1-75 cars have been confirmed and have brought efficiency values closer to Red Bull, although there is still some margin in favor of the RB18, as explained by Giuliano Duchessa for formu1a.uno. The data show that the F1-75 is confirmed to be superior in entering and exiting from medium and slow corners, i.e. those from around 200/220 km / h. Red Bull, and starting with this weekend also Mercedes, regain ground in the straights. The F1-75 continues to be the car that develops the most stable downforce, the Montmelo circuit is perfect for technicians to make significant comparisons.

An interesting example can be seen at the exit of the long turn 3 – where stability counts – Charles Leclerc can open 8% more throttle than Max Verstappen.

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Newey’s engineers worked to balance the car by making it clearly less stiff as possible, even accepting to lose performance on the fastest lap. The excellent speeds in the chicane – in relation to Ferrari – are proof of this.

On the Mercedes front, George Russell had a great qualifying session. The Brit had fewer problems than Hamilton keeping the rear tires in a better window. In terms of speed, he has developed a very respectable top speed with his Mercedes, hitting 324 km / h (like Magnussen) and barely better than Red Bull.

In addition – curiously – the Englishman in Q3 was the fastest in the very fast corner 9. So the W13 showed an interesting step forward also in terms of consistency and ease of driving, despite the gap remains substantial on a track where a lap is completed in 78 seconds. The drivers showed more confidence in the car and braking. It will be interesting to see in the race whether this balance is the result of a solid step forward, as the technicians at Brackley hope.