The Friday in F1 Abu Dhabi GP was how it was expected with some tension in the air especially at the front of the field and every minor detail being monitored.
The Friday in F1 Abu Dhabi GP was tensed start especially at the front of the field with both Mercedes and Red Bull collecting crucial data which would come handy for Saturday and Sunday. It was tricky to ascertain the real difference between the two.
Max Verstappen started with topping in FP1 but couldn’t do a qualifying lap in FP2 to be third as Lewis Hamilton took the top spot. Mercedes were always on pace even with Valtteri Bottas, while Sergio Perez spent time on running different set-ups.
Hamilton: “It doesn’t feel too bad. It started off good but got a bit worse in FP1, then started off better in the second session with some changes we made. But yes, now we just have to crank through the data and try to figure out how we can improve, where we home in. The target is always moving, but yes. Otherwise, I feel good. I feel good, I feel great in my body and as I said I think we made some positive steps set-up wise, so we’ll try and perfect it tonight and come back hard tomorrow. I like the changes they’ve made to the track, it’s made the track much more enjoyable, much more flowing. It’s obviously close between us all but yes, we got through our sessions and still a bit unknown in terms of pace but I’m sure it’s going to be super-close like it has been in previous races.”
Verstappen: “I like the new track layout, it’s more fun to drive with the faster corners, especially in the last sector. We made a few changes to the set up across the two sessions and I do think they are positive. We are still learning and understanding a few things. The short runs didn’t go to plan, we are lacking a bit of pace but I think the long runs were more competitive so that’s important. I’m looking forward to qualifying tomorrow to put it all together.”
Behind the Top 2, it was Alpine in the centerstage with Esteban Ocon ending up second while Fernando Alonso ending up sixth in both the sessions. Even the AlphaTauri F1 duo were not far behind as Ferrari dropped to the second half of the Top 10 runners.
Carlos Sainz did not have a smooth run among the Ferrari duo. McLaren, meanwhile, didn’t have that one-lap pace as much with both Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo only around the Top 10. In fact, even Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel made it in, in FP2.
Alonso: “I think on Friday, normally we look a little bit more competitive, but less competitive Saturday and Sunday. I expect we will drop a few positions tomorrow but nevertheless it seems a good circuit layout for us with the modifications, so we are happy and we are ready to push tomorrow. Obviously it changes, everything, into next year with the new regulations, but I think the team now is more prepared than 10 months ago, for sure. We grew up together, I think we fixed some of our weakness that we identified at the beginning of the year, so we are more ready. Fingers crossed, it’s going to be a competitive year.”
Sainz: “It’s been a challenging day here in Abu Dhabi with the new track layout and surface, making it very different to any other year we’ve driven here in the past. It’s been a very difficult Friday because since FP1 I wasn’t feeling at home in the car and I’ve been chasing the balance the whole day. That’s quite unusual because we’ve been starting on the right foot pretty much every weekend and today, I feel we have a lot of homework to do, going into Saturday. We will now sit down with the engineers, see where we can improve the car and hopefully find more performance for tomorrow.”
Norris: “A decent day. I think we learned a lot. We maybe weren’t so quick, but the car felt relatively decent so I’m hoping tomorrow things will just click a little bit more and we’ll find some pace. So, a positive day I think. It’s also nice to drive the new circuit, there are quite a few differences – both in the layout but also how the tyres behave as well. It’s something else to get used to and we’ll have our guys and girls look at how to maximise everything, including the tyres and the set-up, going into qualifying tomorrow.”
Behind them, the Alfa Romeo, Williams and Haas F1 pairs rounded out the line-up with all not showing mega pace. In fact, Kimi Raikkonen had a late crash at Turn 14 and didn’t like the changes of the circuit amid general praise.
The Williams duo did feel the lack of pace despite the car suiting to the new layout where Nicholas Latifi noted of his off while Jack Aitken felt great on his F1 return. As for the Haas pair, they had to be slightly cautious with no chassis available to them.
Raikkonen: It had been a normal Friday until the last lap. We have been trying things, seeing what happens and what works, as we always do: we had finished nearly all our work when I had my accident. I just lost the rear in a place where there wasn’t any run-off and went into the wall: these things happen. It was interesting to try the track after the modifications. Making changes is good and I can see why they were done, but I am not sure whether overtaking will be any easier. They took one of the good overtaking opportunities at Turn 9 away. It is good to make a change, but it should have been a lot slower corner, because when it is a faster corner, it is very difficult to overtake. Sometimes, you wonder what they think when they do the changes, but it’s what it is – it’s different.”
Aitken: “It was really nice to be back in the car after such a long break and to feel the progress that’s been made across the last year. I spent a lot of time making sure I was on top of the car’s set-up and various procedures, but everything went very smoothly and I was happy that we collected some valuable data. The car felt good to drive around the updated track layout and I was pleased with the pace today. I think the team will make some good progress over the next few sessions, so hopefully it’ll be a good race to finish off the season on Sunday. Most importantly, I kept the car in one piece so that George could jump back in for FP2.”
Aside the happenings on track, the big talking point elsewhere was the aggressive kerbs installed around the Yas Marina circuit. After what transpired in Qatar, Pirelli were extra cautious about the kerbs which could cause for a tyre structural failure.
The kerbs at Turn 5 and Turn 9 were the ones pointed out by Mario Isola when speaking to media including FormulaRapida.net. He already had a chat with FIA Race Director Michael Masi on Thursday and also did so (by now) on Friday after track running.
He is not certain if tyres would fail because there weren’t that many laps to ascertain it and wasn’t clear what can be done to change the kerb. “They are very similar to Qatar, they are not exactly the same.” said Isola. “Especially they are quite aggressive at the exit of Turn 5 and Turn 9. They are the most aggressive. From Turn 1 to 4 they are the same as last year, and then we are different kerbs Turns 12, 13, 14, 15. The exit of Turn 16 is the same as the last year. So we have differences compared to this year, and they are more aggressive.
“There are also different kerbs on the apex of the corners, but obviously the apex is different. First of all, because you have the unloaded tyres on the car that are on the apex. And second because the drivers can manage not to run too much on the apex, while I am more worried about the exit kerbs, especially in Turns 5 and 9, that are the most aggressive.
“We saw from free practice both in F2 and F1 that they are running especially over the kerbs and the exit of Turn 9, that is also the turn with the highest speed. And I’m sure that in qualifying they will use the kerbs and maybe also during the race if the race if they push during the races. So there is this element that we have to consider.
“Clearly we have a different situation compared to Qatar, it’s a different speed, it’s a different time they stay over the kerb, but it is in any case, something we have to consider, and we have to pay attention. The problem is that we don’t have tyres with the number of laps so that is comparable to the length of a stint during the race.
“So, we can clearly also increase the number of checks that we do, but sometime, like it was in Qatar, it was not possible to predict what happened on the construction on the tyre, because it happened after several laps. Honestly, I’m not an expert on what is possible to do on kerbs, if they can be replaced, or if they can take them out or whatever, I don’t know I rely on the FIA and what they can do.
“So that’s why I think that it’s useful to have a conversation and to highlight what we have found. I was also waiting for additional information coming from running this afternoon up, and then I’m sure that we can find a solution. I don’t know what is possible to do now. So clearly, what we have to do is to analyse the tyres to try to understand if there is any potential area of concern.
“We have to analyse the data coming from the teams, to compare that with the level of stress that we saw in Qatar, so we have a lot of work to do now. And all our findings we share with the FIA, and I’m sure that we can find a good solution that is satisfying for both,” summed up Isola.
Here’s how FP1 of F1 Abu Dhabi GP panned out
Here’s how FP2 of F1 Abu Dhabi GP panned out