With the second Formula 1 practice session in Austin devoted entirely to testing the 2023 generation of Pirelli tyres, the first session is where we can look for pointers to qualifying and the United States Grand Prix itself. same.
Calculating the numbers reveals no real surprises, with Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari leading Max Verstappen’s Red Bull and Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes.
Charles Leclerc was absent from the session, to make way for Ferrari Academy driver Robert Shwartzman, one of the five “junior” drivers taking part, with IndyCar champion Alex Palou in Daniel Ricciardo’s McLaren, Theo Pourchaire in the Valtteri Bottas’ Alfa Romeo, full-time 2023 candidate Williams recruits Logan Sergeant in the car normally driven by Nicholas Latifi – and a cameo from Antonio Giovinazzi, who put Kevin Magnussen’s Haas in the barriers and was not saw again.
The necessarily compressed schedule for everyone was such that long races were no longer than three or four laps in most cases. Verstappen didn’t have a long run at all, that team duty borne solely on the shoulders of Sergio Perez. He was on average a few tenths slower than Sainz on the same soft compound tires – which would tend to imply Verstappen would be at least on pace with the Ferrari.
Long term averages
Driver | Sweet (C4) | Medium (C3) | Difficult (C2) |
sainz | 1m42.388s | ||
Perez | 1m42.550s | ||
hamilton | 1m42.776s | ||
Russell | 1m43.318s | ||
palou | 1m43.370s | ||
Alonso | 1m43.580s | ||
Ocon | 1m43.637s | ||
Vettel | 1m43.840s | ||
Zhou | 1m43.870s | ||
To stroll | 1m43.900s |
Hamilton seemed to have found a better balance for his Mercedes than team-mate George Russell and was closer to the Ferrari/Red Bull pace than normal, although his long run was on the medium tire and therefore not directly comparable. Russell’s long run on soft tires was a full second behind Sainz’s.
Not for the first time this year Aston Martin has been fast in lap times – Lance Stroll being fourth fastest – but 2022 history would suggest that simply reflects a different base fuel weight.
In the long stints it was less impressive and seemed, as usual, to be a bit adrift of Alpine and McLaren.
Palou was impressive with his consistency as he took on long-term responsibility for McLaren. He calmly completed a sequence of six laps averaging faster than that of Esteban Ocon’s Alpine on the same tyre. AlphaTauri and Williams seemed to run much lighter than the others on long runs if we’re assuming they aren’t, in fact, the two fastest cars.
Schwarzman didn’t take a quick lap in the Ferrari and it was Palou who definitely stood out from the rookies.
This race is traditionally a two-stop race due to high tire degradation, but the short duration of the races makes it unclear whether a one-stop would be feasible. Expect considerable strategic variation and varying performance phases during stints as teams choose to front or rear load their stints with the tyres.
Practice 1 Results
Pos | Last name | Auto | best time | gap leader |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Ferrari | 1m36.857s | |
2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1m37.081s | +0.224s |
3 | Lewis Hamilton | mercedes | 1m37.332s | +0.475s |
4 | Spear Stroll | Aston Martin-Mercedes | 1m37.46s | +0.603s |
5 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 1m37.515s | +0.658s |
6 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine-Renault | 1m37.713s | +0.856s |
seven | george russell | mercedes | 1m37.802s | +0.945s |
8 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri-Red Bull | 1m37.81s | +0.953s |
9 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | 1m37.856s | +0.999s |
ten | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin-Mercedes | 1m38.041s | +1.184s |
11 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine-Renault | 1m38.102s | +1.245s |
12 | Guanyu-Zhou | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1m38.276s | +1.419s |
13 | Alex Albon | Williams-Mercedes | 1m38.422s | +1.565s |
14 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri-Red Bull | 1m38.898s | +2.041s |
15 | Mick Schumacher | Haas-Ferrari | 1m38.922s | +2.065s |
16 | Robert Schwartzman | Ferrari | 1m38.951s | +2.094s |
17 | Alex Palou | McLaren-Mercedes | 1m39.911s | +3.054s |
18 | Theo Pourchaire | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1m40.175s | +3.318s |
19 | Logan Sargeant | Williams-Mercedes | 1m40.325s | +3.468s |
20 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Haas-Ferrari | 1m43.063s | +6.206s |
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