Lewis Hamilton was left “a little in pain” after his Mercedes found it difficult to bounce straight into Friday’s training session at the Grand Prix of Azerbaijan. “I will make it through,” he said after finishing the 12th day faster. “We hit some serious speeds at the end of the straight and it bounces a lot.” Teammate George Russell said the new rules needed to be reconsidered. “I do not think it’s right to run like that for the next four years or whatever,” Russell said. “Discussions will be needed because everyone is on the same boat.” The bounce in the straights – caused by an interruption in the flow of air under the body – has to some extent affected most teams this year following the introduction of new rules aimed at closing the pitch and facilitating overtaking. These changed the way aerodynamics of cars worked and led to the bounce problem, with which Mercedes struggles more than most. The world champions had hoped to make it through some of the changes made to the Spanish Grand Prix two games ago, but returned to the Baku long pit straight this weekend, which includes a series of twists and turns. Russell, director of the Grand Prix Drivers ‘Association, said: “Now the car is running so close to the ground, it’ s crazy at these high speeds. “The car has reached the bottom and I think it’s the same for everyone and it’s not really comfortable to drive. I do not know what the future holds for this age of cars, but I can not see that we can [continue like this]. “ Both Ferraris also seemed to have difficulty bouncing in the straights. No other driver has complained as much as the Mercedes couple, although Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz has admitted that he too struggled with the problem, also known as the “seal”. Sainz said: “It’s definitely something I’m looking at because for some reason today I struggled a lot with this phenomenon that was not there in the last few races and it looked particularly ugly on my side in the garage. “It’s something I have to look for with the engineers. It gave me a little confidence in straightening and braking.” F1 CEO Ross Brawn – who was instrumental in introducing the new rules, which changed the way car aerodynamics work this year to close the pitch and facilitate overtaking – has previously dismissed similar comments. of Russell. , saying that he is really only interested in the thoughts of the drivers in front of the stadium. Following changes to the F1 structure, the team under Brawn that developed the rules has been relocated and is now working for the FIA’s governing body. Russell was Mercedes’ fastest driver in seventh place, 1.3 seconds behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, with Hamilton 0.3 seconds behind. Hamilton said: “We tried something experimental in my car and it did not feel great to be honest. But at least we tried it and got data on it. We will go through it and hopefully tomorrow we will probably get back to what we changed. “1.6 seconds or 1.3 seconds, or whatever, is too far away. Many of them are straight.” Lewis Hamilton seemed to be having a hard time in his Mercedes
Ferrari and Red Bull close again
The Leclerc finished the day 0.248 seconds faster than the Red Bull of Monaco Grand Prix winner Sergio Perez and the Ferrari driver said he had “a good Friday”. Leclerc title rival Max Verstappen was 0.108 seconds extra. Fernando Alonso – whose Alpine has a major aerodynamic upgrade this weekend – was fourth fastest, beating Carlos Sainz’s second Ferrari. Leclerc said the nature of the sessions meant that understanding the true picture of performance was difficult. “I think it will be [a hard fight at the top]”, Said Leclerc. “We have improved a lot from P1 to P2, but there is one more step we have to take tomorrow. “I also feel like nobody rolled in P2 – neither did we, but Max and Carlos did not really improve softly, so there are still a lot of questions. “The positives from today are that the deterioration was good and the pace of the game was very strong, so that’s good.” Leclerc has seen a 46-point lead over Verstappen after three races this season which turns into a nine-point deficit after four consecutive Red Bull victories and a series of problems for Ferrari. But he said he believed he would be able to regain the lead as the season progressed. “If we do everything perfectly, I am sure we will succeed [the lead] back to a point, “Leclerc said. In terms of racing, Ferrari and Red Bull seemed to fit in well with Baku. Red Bull looked like the team would win in the first session, in which Perez was faster and when he and Verstappen were clearly faster on the straights – a key factor on a track where it is so long and overtaking is relatively easy. But Ferrari’s straight deficit narrowed in the second session and Leclerc moved to his usual position this season as a one-lane driver. Verstappen went to the track late at the start of the second session as Red Bull repaired its rear wing as it fluctuated when the DRS overtaking aid was open during the first session. Later, his qualifying simulations were discontinued. And he managed to complete only two laps in a race cut at the end of the session. Nevertheless, Perez appeared to be Red Bull’s most comfortable driver during the day as Verstappen complained of setbacks in the first session and then appeared to have difficulty with a loose back early in the second. Therefore, Perez seems ready to continue his strong course, after his victory in Monaco last time. Perez said: “It was a good start to the day, P2 did not go as well as we would have liked. I think we probably got the wrong instructions or we were just exploring and not being able to spot our problems. “But we have the data for both tires on the long distances. Hopefully we can put it all together for the qualifiers. I feel confident out there.” Behind Sainz, Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly was sixth fastest ahead of Russell, with French teammate Yuki Tsunoda eighth, Esteban Oco.n’s second Alpine and McLaren Lando Norris.
