Bearman got closer to Leclerc throughout the 2nd stint: from a 1s/lap difference to similar laptimes
LEC was managing; BEA's confidence was growing.👌

Mind blowing: BEA rested his head on the headrest when cornering, as his neck was exhausted!😳
(More laps/higher forces than in F2➡️hard to...'Bear'😁)

McLaren had a severe drag issue in the race due to the more loaded wing they ran.

PER overtook PIA with a 41km/h (‼️) top speed advantage. Piastri reached just 289km/h.

Instead, HAM defended from NOR with a 316km/h top speed: NOR needed a massive tow to overtake him!

Russell had an issue on the last lap, and BEA almost caught him!

He lifted massively from T4 onwards, losing 3s in one lap➡️Lucky to still finish 2.7s ahead.

Ferrari's tyre wear on the Hards was excellent: even lower than RedBull's, per Marko's admission.

Through a tense team radio, Russell told his engineer to check his front right pressure.

The race engineer said that everything seemed fine, but Russell insisted that something about the front right tyre definitely wasn’t right.

https://twitter.com/russellius/status/1766536170756850099

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RUSSELL'S DRAMATIC LAST LAP

On Turn 4 (🟡Arrow), Russell asked his team to immediately check the pressure of his front right tyre

He had to lift massively in all the remaining corners (🟣Arrows), losing 3s in less than a lap (🟢Arrow)

Bearman cut his gap from 5.7s to 2.7s

MERCEDES' RADICAL WING CHANGE

In Bahrain, they had the lowest top speed (Bottom): just 313km/h📉

For Saudi Arabia (Top), they drastically reduced their rear wing load: they gained 19km/h (‼️) and were 2nd fastest📈

This, however, clearly hampered their tyre wear and cornering.

It seems that the car has inherently high drag, or at least higher than most:
- In Bahrain, when they ran a wing in line with the competition, they were slowest;
- In Saudi Arabia, despite running by far the skinniest wing, they were still 2km/h slower than Haas.

Something to work on...

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FERRARI'S BEAM WING CHANGE

Even though Jeddah is a much faster track, Ferrari ran the same rear wing as in Bahrain.🤔

Instead, they reduced drag by removing their upper beam wing.💡

Their 'low load' rear wing was deemed inappropriate for the many fast corners in Jeddah.

AVERAGE GAP TO FASTEST QUALI LAP📊

Ferrari got closer to the top (+0.18% vs +0.26% last year)
Aston: 4th➡️3rd fastest, but its race pace got worse
Merc: 3rd➡️5th fastest

Improved the most: McL📈 (-0.28%)
Receded the most: Alpine📉 (+0.95%, or ~0.8s farther from pole!)

Last year's average, for comparison:

Keep in mind that, even though Aston and McLaren were on average equal in qualifying, they did so with opposite trajectories: Aston was much quicker in the first half of the season, and the opposite for McLaren.

Ferrari, Mercedes, McL, and Aston to bring major upgrade packages in Imola (Race 7)

Teams hope to reduce the gap to RBR: this might shake up their running order, too

Current Weaknesses:
⚫️Merc: Porpoising+High speed cornering
🟠McL: DRS effectiveness
🟢Aston: High-fuel pace

RACE START - SAUDI ARABIAN #F1 GP

📈Perez was the best starter, but Leclerc was close (0.1s slower to reach 200km/h)

🛞The Soft compound didn't help Bearman and Bottas off the line: they were among the slowest drivers to reach 100km/h

📉Worst starter: Gasly

To add context and for those wondering why: even though Perez’ onboard showed that he was moving BEFORE the lights went off, his movement didn’t trigger the sensor, and the start was declared regular.

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In Jeddah, Mercedes ran a more loaded beam wing configuration compared to Red Bull to partially compensate for their very unloaded rear wing.

In contrast, Ferrari and McLaren removed their upper beam wings altogether to save drag.

( 📸 u/alenpetak11, collab with @aerodynam1cs )

🗒Notes on Australian Gp

- Much quicker than in the past due to the recent layout changes🔥
- Modest grip➡️Track evolution will be higher than usual📈
- Drag will matter less than in Jeddah➡️McLaren’s high drag will be a smaller problem there👌

What’s your prediction?🤔

Australian GP: medium-high wing load levels💡

✅ Downforce needed for fast corners+braking points

❌ Frequent (but short-ish) straights: Cannot go maximum load

⚫️Merc/🟣Alpine/🔵RacingBulls: least loaded⏬ (top speed over grip).

🔵RBR/🟢Aston/🟠McL/🔵Williams: most loaded⏫.

📸 @AlbertFabrega

Rear wings - Australian GP
(RB as reference)

🟢Mercedes: the least loaded wing, maybe because more load might worsen their bouncing problem🤔

🔴Ferrari: same wing as in the much faster Jeddah➡️Load managed through different beam wing configs

🟠McL: similar to RedBull

'Puzzling' top speeds in FP2🤔

-Aston was fastest despite running a very loaded rear wing➡️Higher engine mode?
-On the other hand, Mercedes had a pretty low top speed considering the lower downforce wing they were running!➡️Draggy chassis?

All teams within 3km/h of each other!

Leclerc got P1 in FP2 by gaining under braking over Verstappen:

The SF-24 (and LEC) seem very strong in this regard, and didn't sacrifice the corner exit too much. He used his signature 'partial throttle' when braking!👌

VER gained a lot in turn 10 and the following straight.

The SF-24 seems competitive everywhere in Albert Park (braking, cornering, traction and straight-line speed).

Unless he had significantly less fuel in the tank, this might be LEC’s best shot for a pole position, as he also stated.

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