Max Verstappen had a setback during FP2 at the Australian Grand Prix, when his car needed repairs and a new floor after hitting the exit curbs at Turn 10 on the Albert Park circuit. This put him and Red Bull behind schedule.
Although Verstappen was quick on the medium tire, he didn’t gain much time on the soft tire. His best time was over four tenths slower than Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari, who set the pace of the session. However, these times may not accurately represent their performance. Verstappen and his teammate Sergio Perez completed only eight long runs between them, with Perez handling most of the setup work due to Verstappen’s absence.
Red Bull has a lot to recover before the FP3 session on Saturday morning. Verstappen reported understeer on both medium and soft tires.
Verstappen admitted: “Yes, I damaged the floor and chassis. It cost us 20 minutes, even though the change was quick. Ferrari is fast, but there are areas where we can improve. Nothing to worry about.”
Is this an opportunity for a non-Red Bull affiliated driver to secure pole position? If so, Ferrari is the main competitor to take advantage of their rivals’ difficulties.
Following the trend of the first two races, the SF-24 seems to have a clear advantage over the other cars. Carlos Sainz made an impressive comeback after his recent surgery, but it was Leclerc who dominated both fast laps and long run simulations.
Both McLarens were almost as fast as Leclerc during the long runs, with Oscar Piastri’s average time just 0.1s behind, despite completing almost twice as many laps.
On a single lap with DRS activated, McLaren seemed less impressive, losing over 0.8s to Ferrari and trailing behind George Russell’s Mercedes and the Aston Martins. Lance Stroll also showed unexpected strength, surpassing Fernando Alonso during the qualifying simulation. However, their long runs were done with different fuel loads.
Lewis Hamilton faced several issues, including damaging the floor of his Mercedes during his qualifying simulation lap. After spending a significant amount of time in the garage, he started his long run, but soon realized something was still wrong with the car.
Toto Wolff commented: “We didn’t unlock any performance. In the second session, we made a drastic change to Lewis’ car setup, and it had a negative impact. Overall, it wasn’t a good day.”
The choice of the softer Pirelli tire selection is likely to have a significant impact on the race strategy. Opting for a one-stop strategy, starting with the medium tire and switching to the hard tire, is the safest option but potentially slower compared to a two-stop strategy using the soft/medium/medium tires. The latter option is more challenging but potentially faster.
