The Friday in F1 Imola GP was hectic in terms of traffic due to narrow nature and short length, but McLaren continued its fine run at the top.
McLaren showcased its fine performance to start the F1 Imola GP weekend on Friday after Oscar Piastri ended up on top in both FP1 and FP2, marginally ahead of teammate Lando Norris. They showed good pace on the one lap, even on the new C6 compound which needed extra attention.
Even though they are ahead, they understand that others can catch up in qualifying trim as they have in the previous races. The likes of Mercedes’ George Russell and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen are foremost in the picture. The former noted can challenge, but noted the degradation to be high.
His teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli didn’t manage to hook up a clean run in FP2 to be far down the pecking order. On Red Bull side, Verstappen was in the mix but reckons they need more to challenge for the top spot. Teammate Yuki Tsunoda echoed the Dutchman’s sentiments after Top 10 finish.
The closeness may allow some of the midfield teams to sneak in higher positions, which doesn’t help Ferrari at all. Both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc had brake issues, which they hope will be better on Saturday. A small set-up change pushed the Brit on a downward slope in FP2.
Piastri: “This wouldn’t be the first Friday where we’ve looked strong and then everyone has found a bit more going into Qualifying. I think we still want to find a bit more but everything has gone pretty smoothly. The cars feeling decent, still a few more things to tweak but all in all, not bad. Saturday has been very important pretty much everywhere this year. I think, regardless of what the rest of this year has looked like, Imola is a place where Qualifying means a lot and that is going to be important but at the moment I don’t think it’s just Lando and I. I think there’s a few others that will join us in the fight tomorrow so we’ve got to keep our heads down and try and find a bit more.”
Verstappen: “We tried a lot of bits, some worked a bit better than others, but overall [we’re] not fast enough at the moment. At the moment, not very high. We definitely need a bit more work to get a better through-corner balance to go faster. I think it’s the same in the long runs. I got overtaken by the McLaren, so that says enough, right? They pull away. But even then, compared to other teams around us, I think at the moment it’s… it was a bit tough today.”
Hamilton: “It’s not the transition, it’s the performance. It’s a lottery, we’ll roll the dice and you put one [pad] on and it works and put another on and it doesn’t. I hope tomorrow we figure something out, we’re working on it for sure. I was really happy with the car in FP1, it felt like we’d made a step forward and was feeling really positive. I literally changed two of the tiniest things that shouldn’t have had barely any effect at all, the smallest change we’ve probably done this year and we had some brake issues that then made a massive difference so that was then a fight with that. That’s been quite a big issue all year actually.”
Antonelli: “It was quite messy today, to be honest. The single lap I never really put together… in FP2 I did a mistake on top of the chicane and then the second lap I just couldn’t cool down the tyres enough, and the grip was not there anymore. Obviously pretty messy and obviously it’s not ideal, but I know where I need to improve for tomorrow, and something that was positive today was the long run pace. I think the long run on the medium felt pretty good, so I’m looking forward now to tomorrow. Well, for sure it’s really special to race in front of all the Tifosi. In FP1, the first lap, it was incredible to see so many of them in the grandstands. Of course it’s really nice, but every time I put the visor down I always try to get as much as possible in the zone to do a good job.”
One of the beneficiaries if a top team falter is Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, who felt good all-through on Friday. He had same feeling after both the sessions too, having finished third in FP2. Apart from the goal of FP3, the Frenchman is looking to score well on a track where they do well.
The only blip he faced was hitting a rabbit on his final run in FP2, thereby damaging his front wing in the process. His new teammate Franco Colapinto did a decent job to be close to the Top 10, as he gets to grips with the new car. The challenge for Alpine will come from the Williams pair.
Both Carlos Sainz and Alexander Albon were formidable in the Top 10 in FP1 and FP2. The C6 compound didn’t play to their hands as much, which they will hope to improve upon considering how crucial qualifying is. The likes of Visa Cash App RB and Sauber looked to have decent pace as well.
Isack Hadjar and Gabriel Bortoleto had their moments in FP2 and FP1, respectively, but feel good in the car, as did their teammates Liam Lawson and Nico Hulkenberg – the German even had a Top 10 in FP1. The Kiwi noted about splitting set-up in FP2 to understand better.
Over at Aston Martin, both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll focused on learning the changes made to the car and understanding the ones they can take forward. The Haas pair were divided as Oliver Bearman felt better unlike Esteban Ocon, who was last in the standings.
Gasly: “It’s been a very, very good Friday. From the first lap I could tell the car was in a much better place than in Miami. I’m glad we managed to answer some of the question marks we had after the last race. Very pleased with the feeling in the car, the car reacts the way I want. I’m really able to be at the limit and push it to the maximum, so it’s a nice feeling. The performance is there, obviously we know from Friday to Saturday the others usually keep a bit more in their pocket, but I think it’s quite fair to say it’s probably been the best Friday so far this year. Very sadly there was a… I could see, I couldn’t tell if it was a small cat or a big rabbit. It turned out that it was a big rabbit just jumping across the track and I could not avoid it, so I had quite a big impact on the front wing.
“Unfortunately that was it for the rabbit and also broke the front wing, [it] was not ideal but, yeah, not the end of the session we wanted. I must say, it’s quite unfortunate because obviously we always try to look after our parts and do the best job we can, so when such things happen it’s not great. [There was] quite a bit of damage on the front wing and the floor, some of it the guys managed to do great work [on] and repair, but I think we would have all [rather] done without it. I think for Q3, yes. We know that the field can have all come slightly closer together on Saturday but, with what I’m feeling at the moment, if we manage to keep that momentum, find a little bit more pace for tomorrow, I think we should be in the mix for the top 10 which is exciting. I’m pleased and excited to see the rest of the weekend.”
Sainz: “Good Friday here in Imola. In FP1 on Soft tyres we were quick, but in FP2 we need to understand why we didn’t extract the maximum out of that tyre. On Mediums however, the balance felt very good, so we need to work to understand the C6 and get ready for Qualifying. Track position is important here in Imola, so we need to find a bit of pace if we want to be in the mix.”
Colapinto: “It is great to be back in a Formula One car on a race weekend again. I’m beginning to be in a happier place with the car after my first day. There’s still a lot of work to do with the setup but I’m starting to be more comfortable. I have got a lot still to learn and to get used to, but I am building up to it and by the end of the day I was starting to be a bit more competitive. The car is looking quite strong, especially with Pierre so I’m sure we are in the mix. Qualifying is going to be tricky with the traffic, we’re going to need to be on it from the start of Q1. It’s important for us to be on top of everything so we will check all of the data from today and aim to find good answers and be stronger tomorrow. Overall, I’ve been pleased with my first day and I’m looking forward to Qualifying.”
Hadjar: “Overall, it was a good day, and I’m happy with my feelings in the car. We brought an update here in Imola, but it’s not a big one, so it didn’t feel like a brand-new car. I didn’t really have to adapt to any changes, as the characteristics of the car are the same. Looking at this afternoon, I’d say it was just an unfortunate end to the session for us. I lost the car out of Turn 3, but I was able to save it straight away, however I already had two wheels in the grass, so I lost it again. It was a shame as I couldn’t complete the run. I’m sure Qualifying is going to be close tomorrow. It’s a small track and one of those everyone knows pretty well, so I definitely expect a competitive day ahead of us. It’s quite difficult to overtake here, so it will be important to make the most out of it.”
Alonso: “Today was all about understanding our new package as Lance had the new updates fitted. I tried to be consistent and give feedback on the previous spec car, so we will look tonight and try to figure out what the best parts are going forward. Traffic management is very tricky around this circuit and hopefully we can get it right tomorrow in Qualifying.”
Bortoleto: “The day started off well. I was feeling comfortable in the car, pushing to find the limit and maintaining a strong pace over the long run. Unfortunately, I had a small snap — and as we said before the weekend, this track doesn’t leave much room for mistakes. I tried to correct it and did manage to do so, but unfortunately it was just a bit too late. Luckily, the car went in straight, so the damage was minor and we were able to fix it after the session — I would like to say thank you to all the mechanics for promptly sorting it out. FP2 ran smoothly, everything felt good again, and we were able to pick up right where we left off and continue gathering valuable data for tomorrow.”
Ocon: “It was a tough Friday, there’s a lot we need to figure out. Today we struggled a lot with the front end of the car. We spotted a few things, so we need to go over the data tonight but clearly there’s something not quite right, so we need to get on top of that tomorrow. The new C6 compound held together over a lap – nobody has really used it for a long run yet – so we’ll be learning a lot during the race, but there were no issues. Tonight, we’ll dig in as a team and come back tomorrow.”
Here’s how F1 Imola GP FP1 panned out
Here’s how F1 Imola GP FP2 panned out
