After the initial sighter runs had been completed, most teams sent their drivers out for lengthy stints on higher fuel to see how they stacked up on the tricky tyre management task at this demanding layout with its abrasive track surface.
Of the typical frontrunners, the two leading teams in that class so far this season – Red Bull and Ferrari – produced mirrored run plans that paint a potentially intriguing picture for Sunday’s race.
After Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko had called Charles Leclerc’s FP1 long run for Ferrari “a bit irritating” on Friday, the Scuderia again appears to have Red Bull-bothering pace, based on the averages of the final one-hour practice session.
With all the usual caveats about fuel loads and engine modes applying, Leclerc produced a 1m36.204s average over a 13-lap stint on the medium tyres.
This edges the best Red Bull long run on the same tyre – which came via Sergio Perez over 10 laps as Max Verstappen complained of understeer aboard his RB20 – by 0.482s.
Mercedes did things rather differently. It sent George Russell out to complete an even longer race simulation effort (14 laps) from the off in FP3 and his average comes in at an even quicker 1m35.301s.
In the other W15, Lewis Hamilton’s mid-FP3 long run was completed on the soft tyre that Pirelli insists, unlike in the autumnal 2023 event here just six months ago, is a possible race tyre thanks to the cooler spring temperatures easing the requirements on the drivers in a thermal degradation race.
Source: Autosport