F1 News
Longrun analysis: Mercedes leads, but Verstappen is close by
- GPblog.com
When analysing the 'longruns' during today's practice sessions, a number of things stand out: Mercedes lead, but not as far ahead as expected. Max Verstappen is close to the Silver Arrows.
On all the compounds on which he drove, the Limburger managed to stay close to Mercedes. On the softs he was only two tenths slower than Hamilton and on the mediums he is one tenth behind Bottas, as can be seen from the figures of Auto, Motor und Sport. So it could be an interesting weekend for Verstappen and Red Bull Racing.
Softs
Max Verstappen recorded the second fastest time on the softs, behind Lewis Hamilton and in front of Valtteri Bottas. The young Dutchman was only two tenths behind Hamilton and just under two tenths ahead of Bottas. Furthermore, the speed of Vettel and Latifi is striking on this compound. They scored the fourth and sixth fastest time on this compound, respectively.
Mediums
There were only ten drivers who recorded a time on the mediums. Among them were Bottas and Verstappen. Stroll was the fastest on this set, he set a time of 1:22.426 on the board. Alexander Albon is no less than half a second slower than his teammate. After four laps he scored a 1:23.126.
Hards
Even fewer drivers drove a lap on the hard compound, only six. Lewis Hamilton took the lead on this compound, taking nine laps to reach a 1:22,755. Daniel Ricciardo was the one who followed Hamilton, only one tenth. Verstappen, Bottas and Albon didn't set a time on the hardest compound.