Andrea Kimi Antonelli closes the first day of a weekend where nothing is yet decided at the top, starting with the comparison with his teammate. George Russell, in fact, stands out in race pace simulations, an aspect that could prove more important than previously thought. Ferrari, on the other hand, is the first chaser of the Mercedes cars, with which it begins to converge in setup choices and energy management. Certainly, there are plenty of insights and the teams will have much to ponder overnight, making Friday’s picture very uncertain.
A complete and tricky track
The Madring debuts on the calendar immediately giving a good impression of itself. The Madrid circuit is technical, complete, and challenging, showing itself as a track with character, despite being a street circuit. The new facility features curves of every type, from rapid sequential changes of direction to the long and very fast Monumental, passing through the tighter corners of the third sector. The chicanes also invite attacking the curbs, requiring a sufficiently soft mechanical setup, but not too much, so as not to lose downforce on the fast sections. There are also combined braking zones, with drivers forced to brake hard while the steering wheel is still turned, offering the audience several lock-ups and braking errors.
However, the biggest hazard of the Spanish track is the walls, making it even more important than usual for drivers to accumulate kilometers, find rhythm, and build confidence. It is a context where having a predictable and well-balanced car in hand becomes particularly rewarding, giving the driver the confidence to push to the limit. Hence, it might not be a coincidence the excellent start of Racing Bulls, fourth and eighth respectively with Lindblad and Tsunoda. The Faenza team is known for developing particularly drivable and intuitive cars for young drivers, which proves very helpful when, as in Madrid, putting together a lap is more difficult than usual.
Mercedes and Ferrari on two different paths
Besides the need to instill confidence in the drivers, the other big challenge of the Madring is the difficulty in finding a setup compromise between curves of various types and often opposing balancing needs. Those who have prepared better than others in this regard are Mercedes, who close Friday ahead of everyone with Antonelli, who was also stopped by Lindblad’s red flag while improving his time.
The first chaser is Ferrari, which started with a very different approach from the Silver Arrows, then converged in the second session. In the morning, the SF-26s struggled to improve once fitted with soft tires, losing mainly in the last sector to rivals, probably also due to different balancing. Another difference emerged in energy management, with Mercedes being more sparing than Ferrari on the straights of the first sector, then using the battery more in the last stretch.
The Brackley and Maranello teams then came closer in choices during the second practice session, and there are reasons to believe they will converge even more on Saturday. Also, there is curiosity to find out which power unit Hamilton started the weekend with, whether with the ADUO-1 or ADUO-2 specification. In the first case, his SF-26 will gain a few more horsepower in qualifying, unlike Leclerc, who will have to settle for the old specification.
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Red Bull with room for improvement
Max Verstappen starts his weekend in sixth position, with a Red Bull surprisingly beaten by Lindblad’s Racing Bulls. The RB22 suffers from chronic difficulties on the curbs, as well as a lack of mechanical grip, problems already seen last week in Monza. The Dutch champion also talks about the need to work on balance, while technical director Pierre Waché does not hesitate to bring up energy management, another area where Red Bull has ample room for improvement ahead of qualifying.
Even more in difficulty is McLaren, lacking the rotating rear wing used in Monza, with the team preferring to prioritize other elements. Oscar Piastri’s MCL40 is half a second from the top, while Lando Norris had to miss the second practice session due to a gearbox problem, limiting the data available to the team. Certainly, if McLaren confirms such difficulties also in qualifying, it would be a big surprise, since on a more technical track the papaya car was expected to perform similarly to Budapest and Zandvoort.
Double degradation
The red flag triggered by Lindblad limited race pace simulations to only 13 minutes, still offering some insights. Traffic hindered the protagonists quite a bit, especially Leclerc, the only one among the top on soft tires along with Verstappen. With the medium tires, however, Russell stands out, faster than Antonelli, Hamilton, and Piastri.
| Antonelli | Russell | Hamilton | Piastri | Leclerc | Verstappen |
| Medium (9 laps) | Medium (10 laps) | Medium (8 laps) | Medium (8 laps) | Soft (6 laps) | Soft (3 laps) |
| 1’39’’6 | 1’38’’6 | 1’40’’1 | 1’40’’6 | 1’38’’6 | 1’38’’6 |
| 1’39’’5 | 1’39’’5 | 1’39’’7 | 1’40’’8 | High | 1’39’’2 |
| 1’40’’1 | 1’39’’6 | 1’41’’6 | 1’41’’2 | High | High |
| High | High | 1’41’’4 | High | High | 1’40’’8 |
| 1’41’’0 | 1’40’’4 | 1’40’’3 | High | 1’39’’4 | 1’39’’4 |
| 1’40’’5 | 1’39’’9 | 1’40’’3 | 1’41’’5 | High | 1’40’’7 |
| 1’41’’8 | 1’41’’1 |
The trend of the times, however, shows a significant degradation, moreover of a double nature. The new asphalt causes sliding which, besides raising surface temperatures, tends to tear the tire, generating evident graining phenomena. Usually, the situation tends to improve as the track gets rubbered in during the weekend, but if degradation remains high also in the race, overtaking would no longer be impossible. In any case, track position will be crucial, putting great emphasis on the fight for pole position, for which Mercedes has already positioned itself.
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