After day one in Abu Dhabi, why Leclerc’s bid to beat Perez for second looks harder

Max Verstappen may have lost his chance to end the 2022 Formula 1 season with a five-match winning streak last time out in Brazil, but despite missing FP1, he appeared to be in the running for practice in Abu Dhabi. ominous state.

The now two-time champion is one of eight regulars for 2022, making way for a mix of rookies and reserve drivers, though he quickly took the lead in FP2 – the only practice session of the event that really matters, as it is tied to the Twilight conditions were similar for qualifying and races.

Verstappen ahead of his time While less track time than his rivals is nothing new – even after a late first lap in FP1, the champion rocketed to the top spot in the race. Most interesting for the remaining storylines of the season, however, were the laps recorded by those laggards.

In Abu Dhabi, Sergio Perez tried to beat Charles Leclerc to finish second in the standings behind Verstappen. Verstappen exacerbated the scrap by refusing to comply with Brazil’s orders, which could have helped Perez.

Ferrari’s long-term speed record is poor, although Leclerc was generally quick in the qualifying simulation lap that decided the FP2 order on Friday night, with Perez eventually falling a chunk behind pacesetter Verstappen. Mercedes also beat Ferrari in a bolder attempt to finish second in the constructors’ championship.

Verstappen looks in top form for Red Bull with a fight behind him set to take center stage

Photography: Glenn Dunbar/ motorsport pictures

story of the day

Mercedes took the lead in FP1 a week after George Russell capped a 21-race grand prix drought with a victory in Brazil. Under the scorching sun at 2pm local time, the weekend’s opening F1 race kicked off with seven young drivers taking part as several teams completed their requirement to have novice drivers take part in two practice sessions – one for each team. Race cars have one. At Alfa Romeo, former F1 regular Robert Kubica replaced Zhou Guanyu.

The pack initially sped up on the C4 (medium) and C3 (hard) compounds before Leclerc and Perez traded time at the front and they finally ran soft for the first time midway through the one-hour session. Verstappen quit Red Bull’s FP1 and was replaced by Formula 2 winner Liam Lawson.

Mercedes kept Hamilton and Russell on the harder compound longer – only switching to the softer compound with 15 minutes left in FP1. This appeared to change their meeting, as according to Autosport’s trackside observations, the W13 were significantly faster than their rivals on the red wall rubber as they passed the long, corner 5 hairpin early in Sector Two.

Perez tries to beat Leclerc for second as Verstappen refuses to obey Brazil’s orders

lewis hamilton 1m26.633s lead, Russell is 0.22 seconds behind, Leclerc and Perez are 0.255 seconds behind and 0.334 seconds behind, ranking third and fourth. FP1 finished without major incident – Bar Logan Sargeant spinning at Turn 1.

In FP2, Verstappen was right on track. He picked up speed in the first section, as his colleagues had done three hours earlier, and Leclerc was fastest in the first 10 minutes. At this point, Red Bull made an unusually early decision to switch to the soft tyres, with Verstappen once fastest on the 1m25.335s – despite complaining about a soft brake pedal.

It wasn’t long before his rivals were unable to beat it in qualifying sims, although Carlos Sainz should be noted as an outlier as his first soft-bodied vehicle suffered from a slow-moving Kevin on the track. Magnussen interrupted. This happened close to the hairpin on the left of Turn 9. Sainz did finish second, but at the end of seven laps his tires were at their best.

Fresh off his first F1 win, Russell led the Mercedes charge on Friday

Photography: Simon Galloway/ motorsport pictures

Russell closest to verstappen, despite a wild spin out of Turn 5 and having to pass traffic in the final corner – an apology from his engineer, Riccardo Musconi. In response, F1’s 113th and latest race winner quipped: “No problem – just not tomorrow!”

That squeezed Leclerc into third, with Hamilton fourth after losing out to Verstappen for most of the third zone. The seven-time champion worked harder to balance W13 in FP2.

Perez finished fifth, unable to improve his personal best despite two soft runs. Red Bull also provided this extra sheer performance to Verstappen, who has been spending all his time since posting his 1m25.335s in the pit lane. Running a new soft track, he raised his benchmarks modestly and finished the day with a fastest time of 1m 25.146s.

In the battle for the best of the top three teams, Alpine ended Friday strongly, with a 19-point lead over McLaren in the constructors’ fourth place race. Esteban Ocon was seventh ahead of team-mate Fernando Alonso, with Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris ninth and 11th ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bo Tas sides.

Total FP2 order

Leclerc could struggle for runner-up spot in championship with Perez

Photography: Glenn Dunbar/ motorsport pictures

Why Leclerc faces uphill battle for runner-up spot

The high altitude in Mexico forced Ferrari to make a move. It had to shut down the turbochargers, suppressing the need for air to better protect the engine. That puts its driver almost six tenths behind. Ferrari is determined to bounce back in the final two races of 2022 to prove that this is just a blip in exceptional circumstances.

Granted, the gap to Red Bull and an in-form Mercedes narrowed sharply to a tenth or half last time in Brazil. Overall, though, the red cars no longer appear to be as much of a threat to wins as they have been this season. The relatively short race in the second practice session in Abu Dhabi showed that the same could be said for the season finale.

In the long simulation of the final 15 minutes of FP2, the leading teams favored a set of scrubbed C4 medium Pirelli tyres. Only Sainz tried the soft tyres, briefly, but he quickly voiced his displeasure and the team put the Spaniard on yellowwall rubber.

With a level playing field established, Verstappen was once again the leader. He ran seven laps around the compound, averaging a lap time 0.35 seconds faster than top Mercedes driver Russell. Perez is just one percent arrears to the recent first-time Grand Prix winner. The bad news for Maranello is that its charge is Sainz (+0.6s), with Leclerc leading Verstappen by a full 0.85s, according to Autosport’s calculations.

“We had some difficulties with race pace due to tire degradation, which is to be expected. Our qualifying pace was a bit better, but our competitors seemed to be a step ahead” Charles Leclerc

With the title already decided and Mercedes having to beat Ferrari by 20 points this weekend to claim second, the key unresolved issue is the battle for runners-up between Leclerc and Perez. Not least because Verstappen didn’t follow instructions to drop his sixth-placed teammate behind on the final lap in Brazil.

Given the Mexican’s dominance at Monaco, a long race on the likely preferred medium race tires should initially give the Mexican some confidence. Running on a slightly fatter rear wing at the Yas Marina to provide more downforce than his teammate after the 2021 diversion will also help keep the RB18 out of the various corners and speeds of the Yas Marina become overly nervous. Red Bull is also understood not to be running in their top engine mode.

Timing screens aside, it should show that nothing is sweet and easy about Leclerc. He struggled with the massive stop at Turns 6-7 as his middleware was ready. He locked the left inside tire repeatedly, including three consecutive laps. That sparked a question from his race engineer, asking why the Ferrari was so slow. The response was not encouraging: “We’re not moving very fast”. But at least that holds the discomfort.

Tire degradation provides a bit of comfort, and sources suggest the F1-75 is holding on to its grip longer than the Mercedes. But, in the end, in terms of Perez’s race with Leclerc, it trails Red Bull in that regard as well.

Red Bull looks popular at Yas Marina

Photography: Glenn Dunbar/ motorsport pictures

Medium tire long-term average

what do they say

According to Verstappen: “I’m very happy with the way that race went, I think the car fits together well. In FP2 we tried a few things. In the long run, the car worked well. In terms of weather, FP2’s The temperature is more representative of what’s going on during qualifying. We should be competitive in qualifying and racing.”

Perez noted: “The racing was good today. It’s been a very interesting two sessions – the morning and the afternoon are very different. The temperature was a little tricky this morning, which means the afternoon session is what we really want to pay attention to because It will be the most iconic meeting of the weekend. We are just exploring the balance around the car. We are competitive in the long run, but in the short term we have some time to find out.”

Leclerc said: “Overall, we had a good session. We had some difficulty with the pace of the race due to tire degradation, which is to be expected. Our qualifying pace was slightly better, but our Competitors appear to be one step ahead.”

Can Leclerc turn things around after a difficult opening day?

Photography: Andy Horn / motorsport pictures