The Free Practices in Barcelona confirm Verstappen's overwhelming advantage. Small improvements at Ferrari!

The free practice sessions at the Circuit de Catalunya confirmed, if there were still any need, the strong position of Max Verstappen compared to all his rivals, including Sergio Perez. Both on the flying lap and on race pace there is simply no chance for anyone. A shame for Fernando Alonso, who is frantically looking for his victory n.33 in Formula 1.

FP2 CLASSIFICATION

Sixteen drivers within a second of Verstappen 👀#SpanishGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/oXvguQ7HgX

— Formula 1 (@F1) June 2, 2023

Red Bull with an already optimal setup with all tyre compounds

The team at the top of both World Championships ends the first day of practices with the certainty of having a package esasily capable of conquering pole position and race win of the Spanish GP. Given the recent results there would be nothing strange about this, but what is surprising is the gap opened here against the competition: it's known that Barcelona is - perhaps a little less than in the past, with the removal of the chicane - an all round circuit, where having a car with no weak spots (top speed,peak downforce, tyre management) allows you to open up a bigger gap than on other tracks.

Laptimes in the race pace simulation (at the end of FP2)

More than the 0.170 s inflicted on Alonso on their flying lap, then, the huge gap was dug at the end of the race pace simulation, in which Max Verstappen set a time of 1'18"6 - about a second and a half faster than Aston Martin, Ferrari and Mercedes (the least performant of the leading quartet).

Telemetry of the best lap in FP2 by Verstappen (Red Bull) and Leclerc (Ferrari)

Analyzing the track in depth, we realize that the areas in which Max and his RB19 make the difference are the high-speed sections, mainly in the first and second sector. In truth, even in the last sector - following the removal of the Racc chicane - the last corner is approached at about 250 km/h, and even there it was possible to admire how the Anglo-Austrian car was on rails in terms of setup: little bouncing, and a car very precise on corner entry and capable of maintaining a minimum speed that cannot be approached by others.

Jake Grant / Motorsport Images

In short, avoiding reiterating the concept, I feel like saying that only a reliability issue can deprive Verstappen of winning this Grand Prix.

Alonso overwhelms Stroll, but it won't be enough to get the n.33

The relative performance between Alonso and his teammate Stroll saw an ever-widening advantage for the Spaniard from Miami onwards: if it's true that Fernando has the innate ability to always drive at his 100%, it is also true that we haven't seen the best Lance in a month now.

Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

Despite this, the excellent Aston Martin AMR23 appears to be in "no man's land" also in Barcelona: not fast enough to challenge Red Bull, and with a fairly comfortable margin over Ferrari and Mercedes. In standard conditions, a further third place might be achieved by the driver from Oviedo, who has already collected four "bronze medals" in the 6 races of this 2023.

The strength of this car on Spanish soil is the third sector, in which the gap from the leader is virtually zero: only on Sunday will we understand whether this indication is the result of the excellent traction capabilities of the AMR23, or of a very aerodynamically loaded set-up - which however would create some headaches on the straights in case of close fight.

Ferrari: new sidepods are working, updates promoted!

The first of the two free practice sessions was an opportunity at Ferrari to validate the aerodynamic updates brought on Catalan soil: the new sidepods and the new floor were installed on Carlos Sainz's car, while Leclerc ran with the SF-23 in the old configuration.

Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

The feedback on the flying lap did not show any substantial differences between the two car specifications, but the data collected by the virtual garage proved the new solution to be an improvement. Following this, in the second session Leclerc also ran with a "new spec" updated SF-23, and everything suggests that the upgrades will also be fitted in qualifying and in the race.

Mercedes struggling to understand its aero package

Whereas we said in Monaco that it would be difficult to give a realistic assessment of the aerodynamic updates introduced by the Brackley team, the Barcelona track has always been an important test when evaluating the performance of a single-seater.

Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

And Mercedes barely passes this exam, because if it's true that in the qualifying trim the gap from Ferrari is only one tenth, on race pace Hamilton and Russell were more in trouble on all tyre compounds.

The W14 is still unable to find an optimal set-up compromise, because as soon as the Mercedes engineers opted (in FP2) for a lower downforce rear wing specification than the one used in the first session, we saw a more unstable car in the middle of the corners and in the braking zones - especially in turn 10.

Tight midfield as always, with the pleasant exception of Hulkenberg!

The midfield, this year even more than in 2022, remains tight and indecipherable as far as the race is concerned. The only one to stand out in this large group of drivers is Nico Hulkenberg, who taking full advantage of the Ferrari Power Unit - as usual on Fridays - brings his Haas even into P3. The German in 2023 seems like a "Friday" driver, but despite this, I'm convinced that even in equal Power Unit mappings, Nico will be able to stay in the highest area of the midfield. And maybe he might even progress in Q3 in qualifying.

See you tomorrow for FP3 (12.30 CET) and qualifying (16.00 CET) from the Circuit of Catalunya!