The rain came after 13 minutes in the second free practice session for the 2023 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. This put an end to the data collection for the teams. And at the same time the preparation for the race. Some teams have packed part of the afternoon program into the morning. Red Bull shared the racing simulation. Max Verstappen unwound a long run on soft tires, Sergio Perez on medium rubber. Mercedes preferred George Russell’s endurance run on medium tires. Max Verstappen complained: “I never found the right rhythm, so it’s difficult to assess the car.”
This means that we have to rely on the few information from the first practice session to try and make an analysis. While teams will have to focus on the work being prepared for in the third practice session on Saturday morning. Alpine technical director Pat Fry confirmed: “We were not able to test all three tires and different fuel loads as planned. All our hopes are now resting on the third practice session.” Esteban Ocon said after an endurance run on the hard Pirellis in the morning: “It’s up to us to read as much as possible from the little data.”
Instead of 120 minutes of training time, the preparation for the teams was over after 70 minutes. The announced rain came 90 minutes earlier than expected and upset the engineers’ plans. Some teams preferred a part of the race simulations to the first practice, but the informative value is limited. Also because two red flags cost 15 minutes. The first because of the total failure of GPS tracking. Modern Formula 1 cars cannot drive without GPS because drivers cannot be warned of traffic. Given the fact that the FIA warning came too late, a traffic jam immediately formed on the track. And there were some near misses. “Norris was close to crashing with Magnussen, who came flying in from behind. With the small mirrors and the low seating position, the drivers don’t see much anymore. We mainly need the GPS to tell them who’s coming from behind,” explained Haas team boss Guenther Steiner.
The green track also affected the result. If you now want to pack the missed program of the second practice into the third, you will find a green track again. So some drivers on Sunday could well realize that they gambled with the setup due to a lack of data.
If the first practice is the benchmark, then another Max Verstappen easy win threatens the show. The Dutchman was 0.433 seconds faster than the rest and set the best time of the day with 1:18.799 minutes. The Red Bull drivers were sent onto the track with different set-ups in wise anticipation of the impending rain in the afternoon. Max Verstappen with less downforce, Sergio Perez with more.
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Although the Mexican lost half a second on his teammate, the team prefers more downforce. “Then you’re better prepared in the race when you have to warm up the tires for restarts,” explains sporting director Helmut Marko. Verstappen confirmed: “It was incredibly difficult to light up the tires quickly.”
Fernando Alonso only needed six minutes in the afternoon, then he almost equaled the Verstappen best time in his first flying lap. With 1m 18.887s, the Aston Martin driver was almost a tenth of a second behind. Like Verstappen in the morning, Alonso was four tenths ahead of the rest of the field. The rain then nipped every counterattack in the bud: the world champion could only manage a 1:19.502 minutes.
Nevertheless, Red Bull is the big favorite once again. The World Championship leader performed his fast laps with ease. However, again with small worries. The champion complained about the brakes and slow up and down shifts. But the mystery of the broken driveshaft is solved: a screw on the transmission side had loosened. It was not properly tightened when installed. So it’s not a fundamental problem for the Austrian side to deal with. “They’ve had them in the car at Red Bull since the RB7,” reveals Verstappen.
The technology could still be an opponent of the Red Bull. Others are not in sight, except maybe for Fernando Alonso. Two facts support this. The Aston Martin has so far proved superior to the Red Bull in medium-speed corners, and in Melbourne eight of the 14 corners fall into this grid. And Alonso is always very strong at Albert Park. Last year he had the speed to start on the front two rows in an Alpine before an accident slowed him down. Marko warns of a mandatory victory: “Alonso is not that far away. He is only 14 points behind. If our two drivers fail, he wins and the World Cup is very close,” warns Marko.
On paper, Mercedes was faster than Ferrari. But mainly because Lewis Hamilton put his time on the Albert Park circuit 25 minutes later than Charles Leclerc in the first practice session. The track had already gained grip by then. Otherwise, the two teams drove at a similar level as in Jeddah. No wonder, since only Mercedes had a small upgrade on the underbody edge.
At top speed, Ferrari and Mercedes have similar values. Lewis Hamilton managed 317.9 km/h, Carlos Sainz 317.2 km/h. This suggests that both teams have similar ideas when it comes to downforce. On track, Mercedes has a slight advantage in the third sector. The other two sections are balanced.
Despite second place in the first practice session, Hamilton had the set-up modified again and, according to his own statement, scored an own goal: “The morning went well, but unfortunately the afternoon wasn’t any more. We made a few changes after the first practice session that didn’t quite work have. We’ll try to undo them tonight.” George Russell, on the other hand, was satisfied: “We’ve put the car in a good window. We’ve made a good step forward compared to the first practice session.”
Scuderia Ferrari performed some tests in the first free practice at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne to evaluate the flexibility of the SF-23 floor on different ride heights. Anyone who can drive lower gains downforce. Ferrari was also very cautious in terms of engine mode. Most of the time, they drove with the lowest power mode. Nevertheless, Charles Leclerc remained cautiously optimistic: “We tried out a few setups and it looks like we’ve found the right direction.”
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