It’s raining in Suzuka. The water takes away the second free practice session of the Japanese GP but does not eliminate the traces left in the Italian night by a good Ferrari, which also appeared in form on one of the most difficult circuits of the World Championship, on which it has not even won since 2004 (Michael Schumacher, who else?). In fact, the first session saw the two Red Bulls return in front of everyone as predicted, with Max Verstappen dictating the pace on Sergio Perez, but Carlos Sainz placed very close, 32 thousandths behind the Mexican and just over two tenths from third times world champion. Once again the Spaniard preceded his teammate Charles Leclerc, sixth in the other SF-24, half a second from the top and also behind the two Mercedes of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton.
La Rossa confirmed the progress made at the beginning of the season. In the first sector, that of the rapid succession of corners which enhances the aerodynamics of the single-seaters, Red Bull’s historic strong point, in the qualifying simulation Sainz suffered a gap of just a handful of thousandths from Verstappen. But it is in the race pace, tested in the mini long-runs at the end of the session, that Ferrari seems to have made the difference: the Spaniard mounted soft tires and was the only driver who did not see his performance drop as the laps went by, while Leclerc – with the same hard tires – was consistently faster than Verstappen. «Last year we didn’t go very well in Suzuka – explained team principal Frederic Vasseur on the eve -, but on this type of curve, at high speed, we improved compared to last year».
The excellent pace shown by the SF-24, too good to be true (SuperMax ran a second slower), would seem to prove him right. He would have needed a check in the Japanese afternoon, but the weather significantly limited activity on the track. Everything postponed until next night, when the teams – rain permitting – will be forced to work hard to make up for lost time in view of qualifying, scheduled for tomorrow morning at 8am. The moment of truth, for Ferrari and beyond.
2024-04-05 08:04:00
#Sainz #close #Red #Bulls #Ferrari #shows #good #pace
