The quickest cars lapped the Red Bull Ring in 65 seconds today. Tomorrow the lap times could dip as low as 64 or even 63 seconds.
As a result the gaps between the quickest cars are much closer than usual. At the end of second practice the top five – two Mercedes, two Red Bulls and Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari – were separated by less than four tenths of a second.
Ferrari can draw some encouragement from how close Vettel was to Hamilton’s one-lap pace. The world championship leader has been reacquainted with the new engine he used during practice in Azerbaijan but had to remove before the race. Qualifying was a disappointment for him two weeks ago, but here he may again have the chance to split the Mercedes.
The ultra-narrow margins between the drivers is going to make for an exciting hour of qualifying. A slight set-up error or a driving mistake could have serious consequences, especially in the closely-fought midfield.
On the strength of Friday’s running one team which is well-placed to capitalise is McLaren. Honda’s new spec three power unit appears to have brought some improvement, however modest, allowing Fernando Alonso to post the eighth-fastest time today.
In contrast it looks like being a very tough weekend for Sauber, who laboured over a second slower than any other team with their year-old Ferrari power units.
Longest stint comparison – second practice
This chart shows all the drivers’ lap times (in seconds) during their longest unbroken stint. Very slow laps omitted. Scroll to zoom, drag to pan, right-click to reset:
Complete practice times by tyre
| Driver | Team | Ultra-soft best | Super-soft best | Soft best |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’05.483 | 1’05.731 | 1’05.975 |
| Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1’05.699 | 1’05.700 | None |
| Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1’05.873 | 1’06.620 | 1’07.699 |
| Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1’05.832 | 1’06.165 | 1’07.380 |
| Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’05.630 | 1’05.852 | None |
| Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1’06.144 | 1’06.848 | 1’06.344 |
| Alfonso Celis | Force India | 1’09.280 | None | None |
| Esteban Ocon | Force India | 1’06.849 | 1’07.183 | None |
| Felipe Massa | Williams | 1’07.065 | 1’07.550 | 1’07.358 |
| Lance Stroll | Williams | 1’07.468 | 1’07.526 | None |
| Fernando Alonso | McLaren | 1’06.732 | 1’06.967 | None |
| Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren | 1’06.859 | 1’06.860 | None |
| Carlos Sainz Jnr | Toro Rosso | 1’07.100 | 1’07.283 | 1’08.895 |
| Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 1’06.906 | 1’07.437 | 1’07.037 |
| Romain Grosjean | Haas | 1’06.763 | 1’07.000 | 3’58.096 |
| Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1’06.591 | 1’06.914 | 4’31.096 |
| Sergey Sirotkin | Renault | None | 1’08.586 | 1’09.553 |
| Jolyon Palmer | Renault | None | 1’07.649 | 1’07.623 |
| Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 1’08.870 | 1’09.166 | 1’10.853 |
| Pascal Wehrlein | Sauber | 1’08.782 | 1’09.323 | 1’09.226 |
kpcart
7th July 2017, 17:43
so many people hate the baku track, yet this track is a far less competitive track for modern f1 cars. only 7 conrners, and basically no overtaking unless cars are out of position of things like rain or tyre wear. Ofcoursew Mercedes are to be confident, if they grab pole… they will control and win the rac.e
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
7th July 2017, 23:03
Completely disagree. It’s fantastic to have such a short track here, and it has good overtaking opportunities considering it’s short lenght. It’s great to see the drivers racing in basically a sized-up kart track in terms of rhythm. Every tenth you lose, it’s a major disadvantage because of the short laptime.
Kingshark (@kingshark)
7th July 2017, 18:06
I reckon this championship will be like 2013, but it won’t be Vettel who runs away with it in the second half of the season.
In fact it wouldn’t surprise me if Ferrari have already won their last race.
Matthew Nowell (@diogenese)
7th July 2017, 19:04
Lots to do today
Markp
7th July 2017, 20:32
Up to Monaco Pirelli reduced tyre pressures from Friday to Saturday. Rumour was Merc fed false info on this as Ferrari gained most. Has this happened in the last 2 races as I think the pressures stayed the same. If so I see where Mercs night and day hard work took place after Monaco. Can anyone confirm Friday to Saturday tyre pressure changes for every race so far?
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
8th July 2017, 4:55
Markp you are right after Mercedes criticized Pirelli and Hamilton accused them of favouring Ferrari, Pirelli hasn’t lowered pressures so much and as often. Considering the kerbs in this track don’t expect pirelli to lower psi’s it’s not wise.
frood19 (@frood19)
7th July 2017, 21:30
this track has punished hamilton in the past, esp in qualifying so i think tomorrow fortune will favour the cautious (although i would love to be shown otherwise). rosberg won 2 and should have won the last 3 editions of this race, despite hamilton being quicker at each of them. it’s a bit of a barometer of the championship as to who has their head screwed on – as a race, i believe this has a lot to do with short laps. i’m a big fan of short laps (though not for every race – variety is a must).
Ricky Johnson (@bamboo)
7th July 2017, 22:56
The thing people seem to be ignoring is the weather. Forecasts for Sunday afternoon have got progressively worse as the week goes on.
The race may start dry, but I think it will finish wet, and very wet at that.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
8th July 2017, 4:41
Looking on the bright side, best track for Merc to get a 5 place grid penalty. Most times teams choose to take a penalty rather than risk the gearbox, I’d like to see that reversed. Nobody likes to see a driver carry over a penalty to another event.
What Ferrari is doing with turbos I’d like that to be amended too.
If we are going to penalize drivers for PU and gearbox parts you ought to follow the gearbox route, make them race the same units, that way we wouldn’t have Ferrari strategically use their new turbo’s in order to soften the blow of upcoming penalties. I understand why they are doing this but like taking precautionary penalties, it’s taking advantage of the whole idea behind the system.
Pasquale Rechichi
8th July 2017, 7:34
Hamilton is really an unfair driver.. He caused the accident in Baku and don’t forget also the penalty he got in Bahrain.. He should be officially “scolded” for his behavior.. Not really a champion but rather a spoiled guy..