2022 Spanish Grand Prix - Buildup, Practice & Qualifying Thread

[From Treviso]

The team (through Laurent Mekies) is not worried about the tyre deg as this was due to an aggressive setup, which Ferrari already has ideas on how to improve.
https://twitter.com/FanaticsFerrari/...Gjy16V8Bg&s=19

[Wuzo]

Toto and Lewis were very happy. I can see Merc taking points from us. They have their top speed back. Looking bad :(

[Wuzo]

Friday Miami Russell has been the fastest man, then come Saturday and what happens.1s slower than Ferrari and Red Bull. Who believe that Mercedes is now faster than Ferrari….. Quali Ferrari will be 1-2 race fight with verstapen..

They did not bring big upgrades in Miami - even Merc admitted they had no idea why they were fast. Dont laugh at their speed this weeks FP. They are back. It the first time I have seen Lewis smile this year. He said he is 'super happy'. Not a comment you here from someone who likes to down play everything.

[aroutis]

Toto and Lewis were very happy. I can see Merc taking points from us. They have their top speed back. Looking bad :(

Team is not worried.

[nani_s23]

The rear wing seems to work (straight speed and load)
The floor seems to work, as they ran the car lower and had less porpoising than before (no porpoising is impossible in reality, the goal is to control it as much as possible)
They did a lot of evaluations to later try things in the simulator
Leclerc didn't find balance despite many setting cortections, suffering from very bad tire wear too
Let's see tomorrow

LMekies was saying FP1 & FP2 are two different set ups.

FP1 set up was good, we had good race pace & tyre deg under control, FP2 was wrong set up for race pace. Hopefully they will come back with good balance to counter Tyre Deg. We need good race car. That’s where Max has the edge currently & he’s able to attack from behind.

[Gilles]

Yes, and for the first time this year, RB is using more downforce than us. Maybe we need to add some more now that we've improved the drag a bit

[Warp]

Helmut Marko makes prediction: 'Red Bull, then Mercedes, then Ferrari'

[Galvonero]

Helmut Marko makes prediction: 'Red Bull, then Mercedes, then Ferrari'

That's Marko playing mind games, typical of him. I would not bother with him...

[nani_s23]

Chassis change for Carlos Sainz after yesterday (also for Lando)!

@F1

[paolo lalli]

Marko is an idiot, he is talking nonsense he is more concerned about mercedes but then all teams should be, simply put they are way to big of an organisation to fail, and when they come back we will all more than know it.

[nani_s23]

Chassis change for Carlos Sainz after yesterday (also for Lando)!

@F1

Due to fuel system issue.

[alfaromeo]

They did not bring big upgrades in Miami - even Merc admitted they had no idea why they were fast. Dont laugh at their speed this weeks FP. They are back. It the first time I have seen Lewis smile this year. He said he is 'super happy'. Not a comment you here from someone who likes to down play everything.

If anyone believed that Mercedes would drive 1s for Ferrari and Red Bull all season then they haven’t watched Formula 1 in the last 8 years. Anyway, they made progress with Mercedes. And they may already have the fastest car by the end of the season. Today, the third training session will actually show where Mercedes stands.

[nani_s23]

Laurent Mekies on team orders for Ferrari:

“It’s still too early to place team orders between Charles and Carlos.”

“The car suits Carlos less, but nevertheless he’s reached the podium a few times. We have to give him time to adapt, and develop the car in his direction.”

[nani_s23]

Laurent Amelie’s: It’s still early days for this upgrade package. We’re taking our time to understand it and adapt the setup as best as possible. We’ll continue experimenting with the setup in FP3

[458 Italia]

Haas put a mechanic in front of Mick's car which had brake problems and got hit/nearly got hit. Madness.

[458 Italia]

hamilton doesn't want to know his gap to his teammate only the gap overall

[patrese86]

hamilton doesn't want to know his gap to his teammate only the gap overall

He'll be in for a shock when he realises he's half a second down in S2

[jgonzalesm6]

Hamilton is over-rated.

[ferrari1.8t]

Hamilton is over-rated.

I’ve been saying it for years, zero competition, a rocket ship and constant help from the FIA is the only reason he is a champion. Glad the rest of the world is finally starting to see it….

Via motorsport:

“That's an impressive time from Russell. It's almost exactly a second faster than team-mate Hamilton, who is back in the pits. Can the world champion close that gap?”

[PURE PASSION]

Anyone watch the times on our long runs ???

[alfaromeo]

Pol will be under 1.19 I think

[jgonzalesm6]

I got a feeling we're going to witness a psuedo-Spygate 2.0 between RedBull and Aston Martin this season.

[tifosi1993]

Very strong long run pace.

[nani_s23]

Very strong long run pace.

By the looks they have sacrificed straight line speed & very strong in S2&S3?

Long run pace of both drivers (Lec & Sainz)?

[PURE PASSION]

Very strong long run pace.

consistent ??

[stefa]

CS is just No 2 driver

[tifosi1993]

Both Ferrari's did long run stint at the end of FP3. Charles looked very strong, Carlos not so much. Both were on softs.

LEC:

1:24.605
1:24.974
1:25.108
1:25.162
1:25.747
1:25.795
1:25.705
1:25.782
X
1:25.366
1:25.905


SAI:

1:25.137
1:25.365
1:25.206
1:25.361
1:25.663
1:25.772
1:26.005
1:26.566
1:26.842

[Tifoso Svedese]

The long-run times should be good and I reckon some DF has been added overnight. Looks like Mercedes have taken a runner for one-lap speed with Turn 3 being easy flat in qualifying trim no matter the settings so you can trim the wings off. It's sort of roles reversed from last year between us and them - we could trim off and run close over one lap on less power-demanding circuits.

[alfaromeo]

Charles sets a 1:25.366 on 11 lap used softs.

[Grimlock]

Very strong long run pace.

Yep the tires look quite good on the inlap. Its funny how F1 TV commentary are hyping up how close RedBull and Merc got to Charles's time while they did it way later in the session, so suddenly track evolution is not a thing.