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Quite an
interesting afternoon of free practice for the Italian Grand Prix at the
Monza circuit. The 20 drivers were able to assess the completely new track
surface, which is proving to be considerably quicker than the previous one:
there’s a different of a second between the FP1 sessions from this year to
2023, six tenths comparing FP2.
Lewis Hamilton was quickest overall in 1’20”738 in his Mercedes, followed by
Lando Norris in the McLaren who was just a whisker off, with three
thousandths separating the two cars. Confirming how close the gaps this
season continue to be, the fastest five, who are the only ones to get under
the 1’21” barrier, are covered by a mere 154 thousandths of a second: behind
the previously mentioned top two came Carlos Sainz (Ferrari, 1’20”841),
Oscar Piastri (McLaren, 1’20”858) and Charles Leclerc (Ferrari, 1’20”892).
Andrea Kimi Antonelli made his first appearance in an official Formula 1
session. However, the Mercedes driver only did five laps before crashing
into the barriers at the Parabolica. Also making his debut, Franco Colapinto
is now an official Williams race driver, after driving in FP1 at
Silverstone, with the same team. The last time an Argentinian raced in
Formula 1 dates back to the 2001 San Marino Grand Prix at Imola, when Gaston
Mazzacane drove for Prost.
THE DAY ON
TRACK:
The C3 has not made many friends so far this weekend. Yuki Tsunoda (Racing
Bulls) was the only driver to use the Hard over the first two hours of free
practice. All 19 other drivers preferred to save the hardest of the three
compounds for the coming days, most likely for Sunday. So the Medium and
Softs did most of the work, with the C4 preferred over the long runs in the
second session, by almost all drivers because the C5 has shown itself to be
a qualifying tyre.
MARIO ISOLA –
PIRELLI DIRECTOR OF MOTORSPORT:
“There have been plenty of interesting points this Friday. The big unknown
going into the weekend was the state of the all new track surface, which is
the main novelty of this Italian Grand Prix. From what we could see today,
we can say that the results of prior simulations were generally confirmed,
with a very significant level of adhesive grip. This factor, combined with
this track requiring a low aerodynamic load, may have accentuated the
graining effect which was quite marked on both compounds used. Obviously, we
have no real indications regarding the Hard, as just one driver used it to
complete only 17 laps. However, this is a clear indication of the direction
in which the teams might go with regard to tyre usage over the rest of the
weekend. At this track, the length of the pit lane and the time taken to
change tyres means that a two-stop strategy comes with quite a penalty, so
the most likely scenario is that the teams will still try to manage the
Medium and the Hard so as to do just one pit stop, keeping a second hard set
for a potential Plan B if degradation because of graining is still very
significant in the race.
“It is therefore a question of graining: we will have to see how the track
evolves as from tomorrow morning, the more laps the Formula 1 cars and those
of the other categories do and the track rubbers in. Another important
factor to consider will be the temperatures. It was very hot today with the
track reaching 54 °C, theoretically at about the time of the middle of the
race on Sunday. Such high temperatures could have a further impact on
degradation. We have seen that the track is quicker than last year and it
became even more so during the sessions, more significantly during FP1, a
bit less so in FP2. It will be interesting to see what will happen in this
regard tomorrow, starting in FP3."
FORMULA 2
Zane Maloney (Rodin Motorsport) was quickest in qualifying. The Barbadian
driver set a time of 1’32”160, 89 thousandths faster than Frenchman Isack
Hadjar (Campos Racing).
Pirelli has brought the same pair of compounds as last year which skips one
compound. Available to the teams are the P Zero Yellow medium and the P Zero
Purple supersoft. The first point to make, is that in common with all the
categories on track, any predictions about tyre performance were rendered
complicated by the all-new surface, with all the unknown factors that
entails. The Medium tyre will be the choice for the Sprint Race, as drivers
will be able to exploit all its performance almost all the way to the
chequered flag, with any significant degradation only making itself felt in
the last few laps. For the Feature Race, it is likely that the majority of
teams will start on the Supersoft before switching to the Medium when the
pit stop window opens.
FORMULA 3
Leonardo Fornaroli has secured his third Formula 3 pole position, which
could prove key in the title fight. The Trident driver finished the session
as the quickest in Group A, to secure the number one slot on the grid ahead
of MP Motorsport’s Alex Dunne, who was fastest in Group B. The closest rival
in the championship, Gabriele Mini will be right behind them, third on the
grid for the PREMA Racing team.
For the Monza weekend, the final round of this exciting championship, the
chosen compound is the P Zero Red soft, with a carry-over from the previous
round at Spa-Francorchamps of the P Zero Yellow medium, which can only be
used during free practice. However, the use of the harder tyre could see
teams not gathering sufficient data relating to how the Soft performs on the
new surface which, on paper, should offer more grip but also lead to higher
degradation, and maybe even the appearance of graining: all factors that
could make the situation even more uncertain. |
