Leclerc takes a clean sweep of fastest practice times ahead of Verstappen in Jeddah

24 comments on “Leclerc takes a clean sweep of fastest practice times ahead of Verstappen in Jeddah”

1. 

   t1redmonkey (@t1redmonkey)
   26th March 2022, 15:24

   No Merc powered cars in the top 10, kind of worrying for them I imagine.
   1. 

      Esploratore (@esploratore1)
      26th March 2022, 15:26

      Yes, already in bahrein that was very visible, the mercedes engine seems to be lacking and is affecting also the teams they supply.
      1. 

         petebaldwin (@)
         26th March 2022, 15:27

         According to Toto, the engine is fine and it’s just drag that’s causing issues… I don’t believe anything he says but that’s the company line at the moment.
         1. 

            David BR (@david-br)
            26th March 2022, 15:43

            @esploratore1 @petebaldwin The engine or the new fuel mix not suiting the Mercedes engine so well?
            1. 

               Tifoso1989 (@tifoso1989)
               26th March 2022, 16:06

               @david-br,
               That what was reported by Auto Motor Und Sport while in testing in Barcelona. They said that the Mercedes engine seems to be affected by the E10 fuel and lost some performance as a result. They said the Ferrari PU on the other hand seems to have made a similar step forward compared to the one made between 2020 and 2021.
            2. 

               David BR (@david-br)
               26th March 2022, 16:13

               @tifoso1989 To me that would just seem more likely given that engine performance (Mercedes, Honda, Ferrari) was converging and the new factor is the fuel (also apparently responsible for Red Bull’s double failure last race). It seems wildly improbable that it’s coincidence that the Mercedes-powered cars are all suffering relatively, but then I don’t see why they wouldn’t just admit it’s the new fuel, so it’s kind of perplexing.
            3. 

               Philip (@philipgb)
               26th March 2022, 16:28

               @david-br

               The new fuel is being used for ‘green’ credentials

               Mercedes are in F1 to further the brand

               Saying their engines aren’t as good on a greener fuel isn’t great for their image
            4. 

               David BR (@david-br)
               26th March 2022, 16:39

               @philipgb I don’t really see why a temporary adaptation problem should damage their image, but I guess it’s possible they might think that.
   2. 

      carbonized (@carbonized)
      26th March 2022, 15:31

      typical Merc sand bagging, everyone knows they are the fastest car, they will push the party time button tomorrow.
   3. 

      Valinor
      26th March 2022, 16:27

      Clearly they didnt turn op the engines like the other teams. Last race showed they have power. Its just the car that has some issues.
      1. 

         Spencer (@spencer)
         26th March 2022, 16:34

         When exactly did they show they had power? When they could pass on they straights even when aided by DRS?
   4. 

      anon
      26th March 2022, 17:08

      @t1redmonkey on a different note, given that Red Bull claimed to have got on top of their power unit issues, I am surprised that nobody has mentioned the fact that Tsunoda has had to have the engine, MGU-H, turbocharger, MGU-K and the exhaust changed on his car just before qualifying. Maybe it is because Red Bull seem to have quietly changed the power unit without making any comment about it, and it’s only because they’ve had to log the change in parts with the FIA that it’s now coming out?

      We know that Gasly had to change much of his power unit due to damage from the fire in Bahrain – he’s had to take a new engine, MGU-H, MGU-K, battery, control electronics and exhaust – and Perez has also taken a new MGU-H and a new turbocharger unit for this race.

      Given there were no reports of any problems for Tsunoda in Bahrain, and given the initial feedback when he stopped on track in practice was that there wasn’t a major issue, the fact that they’ve now had to change a large chunk of his power unit does raise the question of whether Red Bull might have more issues than it is perhaps admitting to.
2. 

   MichaelN
   26th March 2022, 15:27

   Both Ferrari cars were surprisingly fast in S1. It wasn’t even close with the Red Bull, but they slowly lost most of that throughout the rest of the lap. It seems both teams set their cars up quite differently, probably playing to their respective strengths.

   Notably, all Mercedes cars were in the bottom 10. Either they were all instructed not to run with their full power, or there is something more to their collective lack of pace than just big wings and bouncing cars.
3. 

   Srdjan Mandic (@srga91)
   26th March 2022, 15:37

   A shame Max overdid it on the chicane coming into the final sector, as that would’ve put him fastest by about 0.3 or 0.4 over Leclerc.
   Once again the Ferrari is very fast through S1, but loses a lot of time on the straights. The RBs were up to 12 kph faster on every straight, that’s a massive difference!
   Some of that must be down to engine mode, because there is no way the Ferrari is so slow down the straights. Not with a potent PU like theirs. The fact that Bottas was just 0.3 behind Leclerc is also suspicious.
   I expected Mercedes to drop back a little, but definitely not by such a big margin. I hope they’ve got plenty of power to play with in quali, otherwise they could find it difficult to make it into Q3.
   Alpha Tauri, Alfa Romeo and Haas looked very strong this time, while the promise McLaren showed yesterday seems like a false dawn now.
   1. 

      Tifoso1989 (@tifoso1989)
      26th March 2022, 16:10

      @srga91
      RBR might have gone for a low downforce set up. They already did that last year in both Jeddah and Abu Dhabi. If they will qualify on the front row, they might prove very difficult to overtake on the track.
      1. 

         Srdjan Mandic (@srga91)
         26th March 2022, 16:16

         @tifoso1989
         That applies to pretty much overybody, as Jeddah is the 2nd fastest track after Monza in terms of average speed. I doubt Ferrari is running much more downforce than RB.
         Time will tell, but somehow I can’t imagine them being so superior (with a less powerful PU btw) on the straights.
         1. 

            Srdjan Mandic (@srga91)
            26th March 2022, 16:16

            *everybody
         2. 

            Tifoso1989 (@tifoso1989)
            26th March 2022, 19:32

            @srga91
            The Honda PU is just there with the best no question about it. What I meant is that RBR might have gone too far in their low downforce set up.
4. 

   Postreader
   26th March 2022, 15:40

   Bottas nearly one second faster than Russell, ouch. Talk about good and bad career choices (so far, at least).
   1. 

      d0senbrot (@d0senbrot)
      26th March 2022, 15:52

      If Bottas actually had a choice, he would have chosen to stay.
   2. 

      LUCA (@luca)
      26th March 2022, 17:31

      merc is faster than williams, so its was a good choice for both of them.
5. 

   Ipsom
   26th March 2022, 15:42

   Top 10 are bunched up nicely despite the long track. Should make for an interesting quali
6. 

   Spencer (@spencer)
   26th March 2022, 16:06

   Mercedes HPP missing Andy Cowell yet? They seemed fine iterating without him but I think that this step change has proven a bit much for their remaining staff. They are painfully lacking in top end power and based on race runs may need to do more fuel saving. Going to be a long year
7. 

   DaveW (@dmw)
   26th March 2022, 16:58

   Mercedes customer teams weren’t great either last year. I don’t see that the PU is limiting the performance of any of those teams now falsifiably.

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