|
FRIDAY TYRE SUMMARY
* Valtteri Bottas led a Mercedes one-two in both free practice sessions
today, using the P Zero Red soft C5 tyre on each occasion. The Finn, who
also topped both Friday sessions last year in Sochi, went faster than he did
last year in FP1, but couldn’t quite match his 2020 benchmark in FP2.
* However, it was a slightly different pair of practice sessions compared to
normal. With persistent rain expected tomorrow, the drivers concentrated on
collecting data across all three compounds for Sunday, when weather
conditions are expected to be still variable.
* Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen will be
starting at the back of the grid due to engine changes – which meant that
qualifying simulation was not a priority for them in free practice.
* Conditions were reasonably cool today, with ambient temperatures around 22
degrees centigrade and track temperatures up to 32 degrees during FP2.
* A red flag interrupted the FP2 session with 20 minutes to go, disrupting
some of the long runs. This made it harder to assess the performance gaps
between the compounds, but so far there is around 0.8 seconds between P Zero
Red soft and P Zero Yellow medium, and an estimated 0.5 seconds between
medium and P Zero White hard.
MARIO ISOLA - HEAD OF CAR RACING
“Tomorrow’s expected weather influenced free practice today, with the
drivers concentrating more on collecting plenty of data over all three
compounds as well as setting a lap time just in case FP2 has an influence on
the grid positions for the race, with a strong chance that tomorrow will see
wet conditions all day. The circuit actually offered quite good grip and, as
expected, plenty of track evolution, although the rain tomorrow is likely to
reset the asphalt, which adds to the question marks. Under these
circumstances, the red flag in FP2 was unfortunate, with the teams likely to
head into Sunday’s race with a distinct lack of dry running.” |
TOP 3 TIMES
FP1
Bottas 1m34.427s SOFT C5 NEW
Hamilton 1m34.638s SOFT C5 NEW
Verstappen 1m34.654s SOFT C5 NEW
FP2
Bottas 1m33.593s SOFT C5 NEW
Hamilton 1m33.637s SOFT C5 NEW
Gasly 1m33.845s SOFT C5 NEW
BEST TIME BY COMPOUND
FP1
HARD C3 Bottas 1m36.412s
MEDIUM C4 Norris 1m36.989s
SOFT C5 Bottas 1m34.427s
FP2
HARD C3 Norris 1m35.694s
MEDIUM C4 Bottas 1m35.298s
SOFT C5 Bottas 1m33.593s
MOST LAPS BY COMPOUND SO FAR
COMPOUND DRIVER LAPS
HARD C3 Bottas, Sainz 19
MEDIUM C4 Norris 19
SOFT C5 Leclerc, Ocon, Tsunoda, Vettel 15
TYRE STATISTICS OF THE DAY
HARD MEDIUM SOFT
Kms driven* 1368 1532 2102
Sets used overall** 19 20 54
* The above number gives the total amount of kilometres
driven in FP1 and FP2 today, all drivers combined.
** Per compound, all drivers combined.
|
