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

After the opening collection of pan-continental flyaway rounds, the Method 1 circus returned to its European heartland and descended upon Imola. One in every of F1’s returning classics after a prolonged spell away, the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari took a somewhat fashionable 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 yr’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 for the reason that Japanese Grand Prix meant that upgrades might be examined back-to-back in FP1 and their affect dissected for FP2.

So, how’s everyone trying? A Crimson Bull rampage seems barely much less inevitable at this stage, and as an alternative the Friday working 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 apply cut-and-thrust than simply the timesheets. Let’s dig into the numbers and the info that emerged from the primary two weekend classes.

The story of the day

Charles Leclerc enthralled the tifosi in attendance with a Friday apply clear sweep, topping each classes to finish a powerful 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 classes.

The session had been paused by Alex Albon’s Williams shutting down after a hefty kerb strike at Acque Minerali, {an electrical} challenge inflicting him to park up on the grass simply after the nook exit. Leclerc’s headliner got here shortly after inexperienced flag working 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 niche began appearing between the Ferrari and Crimson Bull drivers when it got here to the C5 working. 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 doubtless 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 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 apply classes. The championship chief appeared to spend extra time within the gravel than out of it, having struggled with inconsistent steadiness all through the classes 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 automotive’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 way in which of visitors, and thus the lap occasions have to be taken with a pinch of salt – but it surely’s inevitable that impeding calls will play a component in qualifying no matter run-plans on Saturday afternoon.

Ferrari leads the road with new upgrades

A roar carried by 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 nearly Pavlovian response from the followers.

The Prancing Horse had pinned its hopes on an enormous new improve package deal for Imola, one which it had given cursory mileage in a Fiorano filming day. Overbite sidepod inlets had been the primary visible hallmark for these wishing to attract comparisons to Crimson 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 the 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 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 finest lap in FP2 to that his team-mate Sainz, it seems that the Monegasque trails barely through 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 really 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 could 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 large and prompted him to abort his lap.

The McLaren clearly has aggressive one-lap tempo, but it surely’s the long term tempo that counts. Norris’ misstep was shortly rotated by the group, and it despatched him on his manner for a 15-lap future on the medium. Though Ferrari seems forward of McLaren within the total common tempo desk (beneath), there are a selection 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 had been faraway from his common to account for visitors and different errors that weren’t consultant of total race tempo. Norris, nonetheless, 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 occasions, his and McLaren’s tempo is evident to see

Picture by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

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

“Actually unhealthy” Crimson Bull struggling for steadiness

Verstappen’s gravel-tousling antics underlined the difficulties that Crimson Bull confronted on its opening day of working at Imola. The RB20 appeared to battle significantly with the way it pressed the delicate tyre into service; Verstappen reported that the entrance tyres would “all of a sudden grip up lots, and I nearly spin”, denoting the work that the group must do in a single day to make sure he has the requisite steadiness 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 had been eliminated. On that foundation, it stacks up because the fourth-fastest package deal as soon as the music stopped on Friday as Mercedes had a strong day – if one forgets Lewis Hamilton‘s position as visitors creator all through FP2.

“It was difficult to get a very good steadiness and we had been not likely feeling snug inside the automotive. It was transferring round lots and was very straightforward to lose the automotive at some factors on the monitor” Max Verstappen

“It is very straightforward to lose the automotive, so we now have a couple of issues that we now have to have a look at as a result of at the moment positively…. simply unhealthy, simply not snug,” Verstappen bemoaned. “Additionally the long term was actually unhealthy, so positively a couple of issues that we now have to enhance if we need to be aggressive tomorrow. In the present day we had been simply severely off the tempo that we have to repair.”

The place Crimson Bull fell down in one-lap tempo appeared to coalesce within the last sector; evaluating Hamilton and Verstappen’s finest 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 strong, 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 Crimson 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 apply session.

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

Picture by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

What they stated

Charles Leclerc: “It has been a optimistic day total. Every thing went easily and we ran all of the checks we deliberate on monitor. We appear to be fairly aggressive for now, nonetheless the situations will change fairly a bit tomorrow, particularly by way of the wind, so we should anticipate that.”

Lando Norris: “It’s been an affordable day, if slightly bit disrupted in locations. We had a take a look at programme with some issues to attempt after our upgrades in Miami, which was essential to slot in. However on the identical time, we needed to take care of a few little points right here and there which made finishing our plan slightly bit extra difficult than we had been hoping for. Nonetheless, the automotive felt good, I believe we made some good enhancements by the day and I used to be pleased with that. One other few into tomorrow and I believe we are able to have a very good day.”

Max Verstappen: “It was a troublesome day at the moment. It was difficult to get a very good steadiness and we had been not likely feeling snug inside the automotive. It was transferring round lots and was very straightforward to lose the automotive at some factors on the monitor. There are some things we now have to have a look at after at the moment as our efficiency wasn’t nearly as good as anticipated and we weren’t snug.”

Who will come out on high at Imola?

Picture by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images