“We have a narrow window and on Fridays we often struggle to hit it,” Max Verstappen had said ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix, emphasizing those difficulties the Milton Keynes team has often encountered during the season in finding the ideal setup already during the first practice runs.
This has become a constant theme for the Anglo-Austrian team, often then able to make the decisive leap between Friday and Saturday, when they can use track data also in the simulator to prepare a setup that can place the car in a more competitive operating window. Will it be the same this time?
What is certain for now is that many teams seem to have struggled with rear-end management, sometimes too nervous, which not only removes confidence on corner entry but mainly causes noticeable oversteer that costs valuable time. This dynamic was also highlighted by Verstappen during the sessions, which paradoxically means the front end is not as limiting as in other Grands Prix.
For this reason, many teams immediately discarded the hard tires during the first practice session. Already last year it was seen how the soft could be a race tire, and this has repeated itself this season, being the most competitive compound both in qualifying and long runs.
With the high temperatures in Barcelona, it seems almost paradoxical, but the greater grip provided by the soft, compared to the very hard hard compound—the hardest in the range—reduced sliding, helping not only to ensure better qualifying performance but also on long runs, where the softer compound performed well.
Max Verstappen ended the day in third place, also behind George Russell’s Mercedes, although the gap to the British driver was actually very small, just over twenty thousandths. It should also be noted that Charles Leclerc’s error on his flying lap had a significant impact and could have pushed the Red Bull driver further down the standings.
Despite the difficulties encountered today, Max Verstappen said he was overall satisfied with the day’s progress, emphasizing that it was a decent Friday, better than others: “Yeah, I mean, it’s always nice to be here. You know, the track is always very pleasant to drive. It’s also quite hot out there, especially for the tires. But I think it was a decent Friday.”
“We’ve had worse Fridays, but yeah, I felt a bit more satisfied with the car. We’re not yet, I think, where we want to be, but it was definitely a bit more positive,” Max Verstappen added, hoping that tomorrow the “overnight miracle” might find the tenths needed to fight for pole and challenge McLaren.
“In terms of feel, I still want to have a better feeling from the car. But I’ve also had Fridays where we were completely out of the game. So yes, I’d say it’s a bit more… let’s say, average.”
Today Oscar Piastri was the benchmark, over three tenths ahead of the competition, but it is also true that Max lost most of the gap in three corners: the first fast chicane, turn four, and turn ten, where Verstappen struggled to trust the car between entry and mid-corner, in the closing phase of the curve.
“We still need to find some small improvements. It seems Piastri is the fastest in qualifying trim. On race pace, curiously, it was Lando Norris. This could actually work in our favor if we manage to slot in between the two. But it will be a hard-fought pole battle decided by hundredths,” said Marko, highlighting how key areas need work to find what is missing.
That lack of grip was also felt by Yuki Tsunoda, but even more extremely, as the Japanese driver finished outside the top ten, complaining mainly that he has no idea where those six tenths between him and Max came from, considering he made no big mistakes.
It is no coincidence, in fact, that the gap between the two steadily grew during the lap, a sign that grip was lacking everywhere and not just in one specific spot: “It’s really difficult, honestly. It’s not like I made a huge mistake, but I’m still way behind,” said Tsunoda.
“If I had made a mistake and still got those results, I’d actually be happy. But that’s not the case. So probably it will be a longer night than usual. I’ll try my best to find a solution. But yeah, at the moment it’s not very clear.”
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