Yuki Tsunoda hit the barrier in turn 27 towards the end of Friday’s second practice session as many drivers were on long run simulations, which has left the teams with very little, or unrepresentative, race run data.
To get a picture of where the drivers and teams may stand relative to each other, we can use runs completed in FP2 where possible or the more unrepresentative FP1 session too.
Eleven drivers completed runs of at least 4 laps in FP1, with just three (Piastri, Verstappen & Sainz) completing runs in FP2 – all on the medium, C4 tyre, except for Hulkenberg and Bearman who were on the C5 soft.
But even with this limited data, McLaren’s pace looks imperious once again…
Lando Norris’ run of 7 laps was an average of 0.234s quicker than the run of just 4 laps done by Piastri in the more representative FP2. But what is also clear to see from Norris’ individual lap times is just how consistent he was lap after lap.
Just over five tenths separated his fastest and slowest laps of this stint, and it’s consistency that was also seen from Piastri, albeit over a much shorter run. Oscar’s slowest lap of his four was within just over three tenths of his quickest.
It’s a repeatability of lap time coupled with pace that isn’t really mirrored by any other driver based on this data, except perhaps for Antonelli who had a range in his lap times of around four tenths – though his average pace was 0.945s off Norris’.
The huge gap between McLaren and the rest of the field is something that should also be noted – from Piastri’s average time, it’s almost six tenths before you find Leclerc’s average, with Antonelli not far off Leclerc in his Mercedes.
Perhaps concerningly for Verstappen, his pace in the representative conditions of FP2 was an average of 1.209s away from Norris’ benchmark, as McLaren’s emphasis on efficient downforce for the weekend looks to be paying off in translating their advantage to this circuit too.
Verstappen said after Friday’s running that the “long runs are still tough” even if they can find some improvements in the one lap pace.
Once again it looks to have been a weekend of experimenting for Verstappen so far – an approach which paid off in Suzuka, but less so as it was followed again in Bahrain. But Jeddah is another different challenge, which Verstappen said was complicating their setup direction.
“Compared to Bahrain, the grip levels and set up of the car is completely different so it is very difficult to compare to last week, but it is still clear that we want to be faster,” he commented.
In looking to the rest of the field, what becomes apparent are the difficulties Lewis Hamilton is having with adapting to the Ferrari compared to Leclerc, though neither driver seems 100% comfortable or confident in the car this weekend.
Leclerc’s average long run pace was 0.434s clear of Hamilton’s, with Lewis also seemingly struggling for consistency over his 5 lap run.
This consistency issue also seems to extend to single laps; “We’re still chasing the right balance between the front and rear axles, and I’m struggling a bit with consistency across the lap at this stage.”
Further back again and there’s very little in it between the average pace of the midfield teams/back markers. Aston Martin, Alpine, Williams, and Kick Sauber all look to be within around 6 tenths of each other on average pace. Ollie Bearman’s pace in the Haas could be down to him “lacking confidence on the brakes and having a few lockups”, in his own words. But on Gabriel Bortoleto’s side, the inexperience of this circuit due to his rookie status and due to missing FP2 thanks to a fuel leak issue may be showing in his pace.
Work by the teams may jumble this picture up by the chequered flag on Sunday – perhaps for all except McLaren, whose lead seems to be fairly well established.
