What we learned in Friday practice for the 2024 F1 Imola Grand Prix

After the opening collection of pan-continental flyaway rounds, the System 1 circus returned to its European heartland and descended upon Imola. One in all F1’s returning classics after a prolonged spell away, the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari took a slightly common step again in time. The scourge of huge and forgiving run-off had largely been eradicated by the welcome sight of grass and gravel, which had sprouted in F1’s two-year hiatus from the venue; final 12 months’s flooding within the Emilia Romagna area had prompted the cancellation of the 2023 occasion.

As is customary for the beginning of the European season, there have been additionally loads of upgrades that the groups wished to discover – the logistical hurdles a lot much less lowered. The primary ‘typical’ weekend format because the Japanese Grand Prix meant that upgrades may very well be examined back-to-back in FP1 and their affect dissected for FP2.

So, how’s everyone wanting? A Purple Bull rampage appears barely much less inevitable at this stage, and as an alternative the Friday operating was headlined by residence favourites Ferrari – with Miami victors McLaren not far behind within the pecking order. As ever, there’s extra to the Friday follow cut-and-thrust than simply the timesheets. Let’s dig into the numbers and the info that emerged from the primary two weekend periods.

The story of the day

Charles Leclerc enthralled the tifosi in attendance with a Friday follow clear sweep, topping each periods to finish a formidable day for Ferrari. The Monegasque headlined a crimson flag-interrupted FP1 with a 1m16.990s, a tenth quicker than Mercedes’ George Russell within the first of the 2 afternoon periods.

The session had been paused by Alex Albon’s Williams shutting down after a hefty kerb strike at Acque Minerali, {an electrical} problem inflicting him to park up on the grass simply after the nook exit. Leclerc’s headliner got here shortly after inexperienced flag operating resumed on delicate tyres, whereas Russell nudged forward of Carlos Sainz by a scant 0.026s.

A 1m15.906s positioned Leclerc on the pinnacle of FP2’s final order as Ferrari appeared to get right into a aggressive cadence from the beginning of the weekend. He had already sat atop the order on the early medium-tyre runs, a whisker forward of Max Verstappen, however a spot started to appear between the Ferrari and Purple Bull drivers when it got here to the C5 operating. As soon as the mid-session delicate tyre runs started, Leclerc set the tempo with a 1m15.969s lap and, on one other run, escalated his tempo after discovering one other 0.063s. This time Oscar Piastri settled into second place, slightly below two tenths shy of Leclerc.

However the two would have seemingly been overshadowed by Miami winner Lando Norris, had the Briton accomplished his sole flyer on the softs; in accordance with GPS knowledge, Norris was monitoring at over half-a-second quicker than Leclerc’s benchmark earlier than overcooking it utterly at Rivazza. An excessive amount of kerb halfway by means of the double left-hander preceded a brush with the gravel on the exit, prompting a hasty retreat to the pits.

Verstappen, in the meantime, may do no higher than fifth and seventh within the two Friday follow periods. The championship chief appeared to spend extra time within the gravel than out of it, having struggled with inconsistent stability all through the periods and unable to dial himself into the calls for of the tight and undulating Imola course.

Jock Clear revealed Ferrari’s upgrades geared toward “tilting the map” of the automobile’s efficiency: in different phrases, enhancing its efficiency in areas the place the SF-24 is weaker – lower-speed corners – whereas retaining its prowess within the higher-speed areas

The character of the circuit additionally produced a lot in the best way of site visitors, and thus the lap instances have to be taken with a pinch of salt – however it’s inevitable that impeding calls will play an element in qualifying no matter run-plans on Saturday afternoon.

Ferrari leads the road with new upgrades

A roar carried by means of the crowds like an audible Mexican wave as a Ferrari drove previous the stands into Acque Minerali. It did not matter if it was Leclerc or Sainz that had entered into view: the straightforward presence of crimson induced an virtually Pavlovian response from the followers.

The Prancing Horse had pinned its hopes on an unlimited new improve bundle for Imola, one which it had given cursory mileage in a Fiorano filming day. Overbite sidepod inlets have been the primary visible hallmark for these wishing to attract comparisons to Purple Bull, however this was supplemented by adjustments to the entrance and rear wings, engine cowl bodywork, and the ground and diffuser. The group’s senior efficiency engineer Jock Clear revealed on Friday that these were aimed at “tilting the map” of the car’s performance: in different phrases, enhancing its efficiency in areas the place the SF-24 is weaker – lower-speed corners – whereas retaining its prowess within the higher-speed areas.

No prizes for guessing who the house favourites are at Imola

Picture by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Imola’s nook profiles have a tendency in direction of the slow-medium finish of the spectrum, so it is an ideal venue to find out whether or not the updates had labored on the ‘bottom-end’ of efficiency. Exploring the GPS knowledge, Leclerc appeared to hold extra velocity into the tight Tosa nook in comparison with each Verstappen and Norris, though Piastri briefly gained time over the Ferrari due to staying on the throttle a contact later. That stated, Leclerc discovered time on the exit of the nook and the run to Piratella, as Piastri solely picked up the throttle once more when Leclerc was at about 50% on the pedal.

Leclerc carried some throttle by means of Acque Minerali and the Variante Alta chicanes, guaranteeing the Ferrari may hold the revs up in fourth gear throughout each corners; Piastri dropped to 3rd in each by swapping the throttle in its entirety for the brake pedal to keep up the engine velocity.

Evaluating Leclerc’s greatest lap in FP2 to that his team-mate Sainz, it seems that the Monegasque trails barely in the course of the cornering phases across the lap, however he has traded this for stronger exits – though Sainz was unable to gather a clear second flying lap to actually point out Ferrari’s tempo.

McLaren’s outright tempo masked by Norris off

Had Norris not dipped a wheel on the exit of Rivazza, he may need hurled his McLaren to the highest of the charts in FP2. The Briton carried extra velocity over the straights in comparison with Leclerc’s Ferrari, and was over 0.4s up on what can be the quickest lap when he’d stepped on the anchors for the ultimate nook. He arguably carried an excessive amount of velocity into the nook, his delta now up by 0.7s over Leclerc within the transition between the 2 left-handers, however this carried him extensive and prompted him to abort his lap.

The McLaren clearly has aggressive one-lap tempo, however it’s the long term tempo that counts. Norris’ misstep was rapidly circled by the group, and it despatched him on his method for a 15-lap future on the medium. Though Ferrari seems forward of McLaren within the total common tempo desk (beneath), there are a variety of key areas that means McLaren may issue forward of the Italian squad.

Common FP2 medium tyre runs

Norris’ run, firstly, was longer total and thus will be depended upon for a bigger knowledge set. Moreover, far fewer outliers needed to be faraway from the Briton’s run; Leclerc had two laps that have been faraway from his common to account for site visitors and different errors that weren’t consultant of total race tempo. Norris, nevertheless, was capable of show over his stint that McLaren’s tempo was altogether repeatable all through the stint.

Whereas Norris did not standout on the outright lap instances, his and McLaren’s tempo is obvious to see

Picture by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

In different phrases, Ferrari had the status of headlining each of Friday’s periods – however McLaren’s outright tempo in each qualifying and race trim must be stronger in terms of the periods that matter.

“Actually dangerous” Purple Bull struggling for stability

Verstappen’s gravel-tousling antics underlined the difficulties that Purple Bull confronted on its opening day of operating at Imola. The RB20 appeared to wrestle notably with the way it pressed the delicate tyre into service; Verstappen reported that the entrance tyres would “all of a sudden grip up quite a bit, and I virtually spin”, denoting the work that the group must do in a single day to make sure he has the requisite stability for qualifying.

Within the longer runs on medium tyres, Perez’s total tempo was a smidgen quicker than Verstappen’s and with fewer off moments, and thus was extra consultant to incorporate within the averages as soon as outliers have been eliminated. On that foundation, it stacks up because the fourth-fastest bundle as soon as the music stopped on Friday as Mercedes had a stable day – if one forgets Lewis Hamilton‘s position as site visitors creator all through FP2.

“It was tough to get an excellent stability and we have been probably not feeling comfy throughout the automobile. It was shifting round quite a bit and was very straightforward to lose the automobile at some factors on the observe” Max Verstappen

“It is very straightforward to lose the automobile, so we have now a number of issues that we have now to have a look at as a result of immediately undoubtedly…. simply dangerous, simply not comfy,” Verstappen bemoaned. “Additionally the long term was actually dangerous, so undoubtedly a number of issues that we have now to enhance if we need to be aggressive tomorrow. Right this moment we have been simply severely off the tempo that we have to repair.”

The place Purple Bull fell down in one-lap tempo appeared to coalesce within the last sector; evaluating Hamilton and Verstappen’s greatest laps, the RB20 had a transparent benefit within the opening sector. However, after the Acque Minerali exit, Verstappen’s tempo was much more variable. The nook exit from Variante Alta was stable, however Hamilton gathered extra velocity on the run to Rivazza and claimed the higher exit from the ultimate double-left – a nook the place Verstappen notably struggled to discover a rhythm.

A collection of upgrades for the RB20 centered largely on the entrance wing and ground, however the jury’s presently out on them as Purple Bull could not encounter an honest set-up on Friday. For the simulator drivers on name at Milton Keynes, anticipate them to burn the midnight oil to discover a repair in time for Saturday’s last follow session.

Purple Bull is counting on its simulator drivers to search out in a single day set-up fixes

Picture by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

What they stated

Charles Leclerc: “It has been a constructive day total. All the things went easily and we ran all of the exams we deliberate on observe. We appear to be fairly aggressive for now, nevertheless the situations will change fairly a bit tomorrow, particularly by way of the wind, so we must anticipate that.”

Lando Norris: “It’s been an affordable day, if just a little bit disrupted in locations. We had a check programme with some issues to strive after our upgrades in Miami, which was vital to slot in. However on the similar time, we needed to cope with a few little points right here and there which made finishing our plan just a little bit extra tough than we have been hoping for. Nonetheless, the automobile felt good, I feel we made some good enhancements by means of the day and I used to be proud of that. One other few into tomorrow and I feel we are able to have an excellent day.”

Max Verstappen: “It was a tough day immediately. It was tough to get an excellent stability and we have been probably not feeling comfy throughout the automobile. It was shifting round quite a bit and was very straightforward to lose the automobile at some factors on the observe. There are some things we have now to have a look at after immediately as our efficiency wasn’t nearly as good as anticipated and we weren’t comfy.”

Who will come out on prime at Imola?

Picture by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images