Despite the fact that the results of Friday’s free practice are not always revealing of what will happen on Saturday in qualifying, lessons can be drawn, especially from the first session, since the second was marked by rain after only 15 minutes.
Red Bull, which has flown at the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grand PrixTaking both pole positions and the first two places in both races, he looks well positioned to continue his domination.
However, this Friday the Mexican Sergio “Checo” Pérez left second placesurprisingly achieved by the British Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) at the end of the first session, and was seventh in the second, just before the rain.
Vestappen, who started badly in the first two sessions, in one due to a spin and in the other due to an off-track, was first and third, making him the favorite for pole position.
The other Mercedes driver, George Russell, was fourth in the second session.
The Ferraris improve
Alonso, 41, world champion in 2005 and 2006 with Renault, seems to rejuvenate every time he gets into his Aston Martin.
“It has been a good Friday for us, we still have work for tomorrow but for the moment the car seems to behave well. It is not expected to rain on Saturday and we would like it to be like that, in the first two races we have competed in the dry”, he analyzed Alonso.
The Ferraris, disappointing so far, had a good day, with second place for Monegasque Charles Leclerc, winner in Australia last season, in the second session of the day. He before he had been sixth.
His partner, the Spanish Carlos Sainz, was fifth in both sessions.
“We made some changes to the set-up and it was interesting to see that we are going in the right direction. This does not mean that we are as fast as our competition, who seems to be a bit ahead of us,” said Leclerc.
Alpine was confirmed as the fifth force on the grid. After his disappointing 16th place in the first session, the Frenchman Esteban Ocon was sixth in the second, while his compatriot Pierre Gasly finished both times in the Top-10 (8th and 10th).
McLaren, in great difficulty in the first two races, resurfaced thanks to Lando Norris (8th and 7th), while Australian Oscar Piastri was 14th and 12th in front of his crowd.