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Leclerc and Norris also dominate longrun, Verstappen behind
With seventh place in the second free practice, there seems to be work to do for Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing. This longrun analysis will show whether Red Bull has more concerns than just the short runs.
As usual, all teams chose to use the second part of the second free practice session for race simulations. Almost all of them came out on the medium tyre. Only Mercedes opted for a longrun on the hard tyre, whilst Pierre Gasly, Alexander Albon and Gabriel Bortoleto did so on the soft tyre.
Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris's long runs were particularly impressive. Both clocked in laps in the 1:21's on the medium tyre, and the Monegasque even registered a 1.20.8 at the end of his sting, the fastest longrun time overall.
On average, Leclerc and Norris are the fastest, but their teammates, Lewis Hamilton and Oscar Piastri are not far off. Max Verstappen's longrun started later than his rivals', and only managed to dip below the 1:22's on one occasion with a 1.21:5, a lot less impressive than the competition.
Who's the fastest in the longruns in Melbourne?
Verstappen can't look to the other side of the garage for help either. Over one lap and in the longruns, Liam Lawson fell short of his teammate in his first outing for Red Bull Racing. He will have to do a deep-dive into the data to bridge that gap ahead of qualifying and the Grand Prix as well.
Mercedes is the outlier. Their choice to do their longruns on the hard tyre are not without merit. Both George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli went below the 1:22's on several laps. Although their short runs on Friday did not make a good impression, their race simulations were a different matter.
For those who held out hope that Racing Bulls or Williams would be in for a shock result on Sunday's race should refrain from looking at their race pace data. The top four teams are still in a class of their own. Although the Grove-based team have managed to bridge the gap to the big four, they are yet to come within striking distance of the top teams.
This article was written in collaboration with Tim Kraiij.
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