120 minutes of on-track action with only one interruption due to a red flag in the final moments of the first free practice session. This is a brief summary of what happened between the corners of the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne, Australia. All drivers were able to make the most of the time available to complete the planned work. Let’s now see how the race pace simulation went during the second free practice session for the 2024 Formula 1 Australian GP.
How did Ferrari perform in terms of race pace?
The first comment is “a great Ferrari at the moment.” The data from the timing sheets shows that the SF-24 immediately adapted to the fast Australian circuit. The baseline setup put on track seems to immediately match the demands of the long fast corners and various restarts. The times are encouraging for Ferrari both in terms of qualifying simulation and in the long-distance one. In comparison with other teams, there’s a different tire introduction, softer, probably still uncertain about thermal management. However, from the second lap, the lap times remained consistent and very promising.
In a direct comparison with Red Bull, specifically with Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc managed to string together a series of laps with an average around 1:22:9. The positive streak could have continued, but a long run in turn 1 nullified the confirmation attempt. Nevertheless, Charles Leclerc performed a cool down lap and then launched himself again to close the next lap in 1:22:5. A clear sign of tire management capability ahead of the Australian GP.
Max Verstappen’s times are difficult to evaluate as he simulated only 4 laps with high fuel due to delayed track entry from the bottom replacement. The data therefore does not fully reflect the potential of the RB20, which is expected to be strong especially in the race. Mercedes is dismissed, as the times are still far from those of the front runners, especially with the W15 of Lewis Hamilton struggling on all corners. McLaren should not be underestimated, as they have adapted greatly among the corners of Albert Park, with Norris in great form on race pace. Of course, we don’t know the fuel loads of the teams, but the assumption is that the MCL38 simulated the second part of the race with about half a tank. The real performance picture will be revealed at 5 am on Sunday unless there are surprises.
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Source: f1ingenerale
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