Finally, the first race weekend of the new season is coming and we have the first significant race to help us begin to establish a hierarchy for the 2021 campaign. Sure, it’s still just practical, but there was a lot to learn from the two hour-long Friday sessions …
1. Red Bull’s preseason pace seems real
Red Bull and Max Verstappen commented on them being favorites during the run-up to the opening race of the year in Bahrain. But their impressive form in Friday practice, following a super preseason test, did nothing to suggest that they are anything other than those to be beaten.
Verstappen looked very comfortable on the track in Friday’s two training sessions – which have been reduced by 30 minutes each since last season – and led the times in FP2, which is the most representative of the two sessions, since it took place at same time of day as qualifying and the race.
READ MORE: ‘Now we have to show what we can do in qualifying’, says Verstappen after winning Friday practice
He moved to minimize the team’s chances when we talked after the session, suggesting that although it was a good day, “now we have to show what we can do in qualifying”. Our data suggests that Red Bull is practically tied with Mercedes at a short race pace (well, 0.01s behind the Silver Arrows), but 0.19s ahead in long races. Where do they win? In the short and medium corners, and they are only a fraction behind Mercedes in fast things.
READ MORE: Perez admits he is not yet able to drive the RB16B ‘naturally’ after his first training sessions with Red Bull
The RB16B is clearly an impressive machine and a big step up from last year, but it seems that Honda has also taken a big step. Speaking to the Dutch broadcaster Ziggo after the session, Verstappen said in his native language that if you took off your car’s wings, it would be like a rocket. The Dutchman, it is fair to say, is excited.
2. Mercedes is not as bad as feared, but still
It is not always that Mercedes boss Toto Wolff is asked about what it is like to be the underdog, but that is the situation he found himself in lately – and again on Friday in Bahrain – with the Silver Arrows heading for the first race of the season apparently with a lot to do based on their test form.
The timesheets did little to suggest that Mercedes had pulled everything back, but the W12 certainly looked more stable on the Bahrain International Circuit, and that translated into lap time, with Lewis Hamilton 0.235s off the pace in FP2.
READ MORE: Hamilton says Mercedes have improved, but Bottas labels W12 “a must see” on the first day of training in Bahrain
The data, however, contributes to an even better reading when you take all the minisectors from a driver and combine them to make the ideal lap (see the chart below, which compares the actual lap times with the best theoretical lap for each driver, that is, what is the fastest lap time it would look like if they set their best times in each mini-sector on the same lap). In that metric, Hamilton left an impressive 0.648s on the table, which would have been enough to put him on top of the stack, even if everyone else completed his ideal lap as well.
Perhaps that is why Hamilton was not so depressed when speaking after Friday’s session, saying that he “definitely” thinks the team has taken a step forward since the test, even though “there is still more to do”. It is noteworthy that he said that Mercedes thought Red Bull “would be quick – if not faster”, suggesting that he feels very much in the fight.
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3. The whole field seems closer than ever
We spent much of last season talking about the most competitive midfield in years, with P3 to P7 so even. And it seems that after Friday’s training, not only did the midfield get tighter, but it dragged itself closer to the attack.
Seven tenths of a second separated Hamilton in third from the return Fernando Alonso in 15th in FP2. Overall, Alonso was 0.923s behind Verstappen’s lead pace. In the same session of the Bahrain Grand Prix last year, the difference from P1 to P15 was 1.6s.
‘Too much left at the table’ – Champions Vettel and Alonso on their first low-key day with new teams
Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, who is working with a new engineering team this year, was excited about the prospect of such a fierce battle this season, adding that “it will be the details” that will make the difference on Sunday afternoons.
AlphaTauri also deserves praise, his short race pace looks very competitive – and enough to get to Q3 in qualifying – but it’s his race pace that is so exciting, with Red Bull’s sister team in a remarkable third place in the metric .
4. McLaren’s form supports unlucky label, but drivers are dissatisfied
This seemed to be an extremely encouraging day for McLaren, who came out of the tests looking like the third fastest team and seemed to do well in that assessment with their performance during the day and at night.
Lando Norris was the second fastest in the FP2 timesheet and maintained that position in our ideal lap classification, having left 0.388s on the table, with only Hamilton fastest in that metric. And they took third place overall at a short-term pace, just 0.2 seconds apart.
READ MORE: ‘I don’t want to be too confident’ – Norris slows down Friday’s pace by saying that McLaren ‘didn’t feel well’
But the Brit was not happy to talk to the media after jumping out of the car. “We look fast today, but I think it’s pretty obvious what’s going to happen tomorrow,” he said. A difficult assessment for someone who finished so high on the time charts.
When it was suggested that the car appeared to be together, he replied: “Do you think? It’s not what it looks like. ”Part of this may be referring to long runs, as they fall from P3 to P5 behind AlphaTauri and Ferrari on this metric.
His new team-mate Daniel Ricciardo was equally cautious, but added: “What is encouraging is that we are second and sixth, and both are still relatively unhappy. I don’t want to be too pessimistic, but I think we are still not saying that we are 100% in the car and comfortable and that it is doing everything we want. We still have a lot of work to do, but knowing that and [given that] we are still on the edge is encouraging. “
Daniel Ricciardo ‘still not amazing’ in McLaren car
5. Veterans Vettel, Alonso and Raikkonen are not yet up to date
They may have more than a decade of experience in F1, but Friday’s training has suggested that even veterans like Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen need time to familiarize themselves with the new machinery.
For Alonso, it is especially complicated, since he has been out of the sport for two years. The Spaniard finished 15th fastest in FP2, almost a second behind his teammate by 0.25s. Despite this, Alonso said that his Alpine “felt good” and that it was “incredible to be back” – and perhaps his confidence is in the belief that the team “has something in the pocket” in terms of performance, because the balance was different For the test.
WATCH: ‘It was amazing to be back’ in Formula 1, says Alonso
It was an equally challenging day for Vettel as he bid to settle in his new environment at Aston Martin. He had the lowest mileage of any racing driver in pre-season testing and left Friday practice with the feeling that he still has “a lot to learn”. Like world champion Alonso, the German felt that there was more to come, saying “there is still a lot to be done on the table, just to get used to the car and to be able to push the limit”.
2021 Bahrain GP FP2: Räikkönen collides with barriers
There was frustration for Kimi Raikkonen, who put his Alfa Romeo on the barriers during training. The Finn, however, was very realistic about the incident and remains optimistic about his chances this weekend, having suggested earlier this weekend that fighting for points this year was a more realistic prospect.
FP2 HIGHLIGHTS: watch the main moments when Raikkonen falls and Verstappen goes faster
“Of course, wasting some time because of the incident was not ideal, but we already have so much test data that it was not a major setback,” he said. “We are looking forward to seeing where we will be tomorrow: we still have to refine some things tonight, but we should be fine.”