Red Bull looks to be in good shape in longruns; narrowly faster than Ferrari
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General
- GPblog.com
Although Red Bull Racing had perhaps the worst Friday of the year, there is still reason for optimism. The Austrians proved to be the fastest team in the longruns on mediums during simulations in the second free practice session. However, the difference with Ferrari is minimal, where Mercedes does seem to have to concede more time.
Mercedes surprised on Friday with very competitive times. George Russell even managed to finish FP2 as the fastest. For the time being it seems that in the race they will have to make passes, because in the longruns they came some four to five tenths per lap short of Red Bull and Ferrari.
Many drivers complained about little grip on the circuit in Miami. As soon as the ideal line is deviated from, it is impossible to control the car. If this is still the case on Sunday, we should not expect a spectacular race. So it makes qualifying even more interesting and important.
Perez fastest man
Due to the many delays in the free practice sessions, the Formula 1 teams actually only completed a race simulation with the mediums. In it, Sergio Perez proved to be the fastest of the bunch with an average time of 1:33.952 over eight laps. Charles Leclerc followed close on his rival's heels with a 1:33.962, over as many laps. George Russell also drove eight laps and came up with a 1:34.319 average. Helmut Marko appeared at Auto, Motor und Sport a satisfied man: "We are up to speed, over one lap and over the entire race distance."
Only Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) and Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) tried it on the softs. The former came to a 1:34.994 over seven laps on the red compound, while Ricciardo averaged 1:35.543 over four laps. In any case, those are times that are a lot slower than the times on the mediums, so it remains to be seen whether we will see the softs again on Sunday.
Top Speed Red Bull
In terms of top speed, Red Bull is also leading the pack this weekend in the United States. Perez reached a maximum speed of 336.0km/h, while Ferrari and Mercedes had to make do with 327.0km/h and 325.0km/h respectively. The straight is 1.28 kilometers long, so Red Bull could benefit from this. The only condition is that they stay within striking distance of the Ferrari on the slower parts of the track.