The Ferrari driver finished on the verge of Alonso’s lead in the first free sessions, and performed well in both sessions despite persistent wet conditions. Both the man from Madrid and his partner rolled from very early on, and he has described Friday as “very productive”.
The rain was the central protagonist of the first day of activity on the track of the Japanese Grand Prix, and the precipitation forecast for Sunday meant that most of the teams opted to take advantage of both sessions to test their different wet compounds, instead of waiting for the conditions to subside. Definitely, one of the most active and early risers was Ferrarialthough this initiative was reflected much more in the first practice session than in the second.
In particular, Carlos Sainz He obtained the second fastest time in the morning with a time of 1:42.563 in Suzuka, only three tenths less than that recorded by his compatriot Fernando Alonso, and added another 23 to his 15 laps in the afternoon, where he had to settle for sixth place thanks to a 1:43.204. In both cases, the driver from Madrid obtained the best time of the teambeating Charles Leclerc by seven hundredths in Free Practice 1 and taking advantage of the Monegasque going off the track in the seconds.
“Normally you don’t ride a lot in the rain, but today the conditions were stable”
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Unlike Red Bull, who chose to wait in both sessions for the track to be in optimal conditions for the intermediate tyre, both Sainz and Leclerc did not hesitate to complete several runs with the blue rubber bandssomething that the Spaniard has highlighted: «It was a very wet Friday, which normally it means not much riding, but conditions were stable today and we were able to test both the intermediate and extreme wet tyres.”
The second practice session featured a additional half hour which was initially intended for the use of Pirelli’s prototype tires for the 2023 season. As the rain derailed this purpose, Sainz and most of the competitors were able to take advantage of the ninety minutes of Free Practice 2 as they used to do in the past, devoting the second half of the session to completing runs with high fuel loads.
Nothing like a little water to make a Ferrari shine. And the Suzuka Ferris wheel.
On this occasion, Sainz finished behind the speedy Mercedes and the Red Bulls, apart from the late final improvement of Kevin Magnussen. Based on his statements, what was learned today could be useful to maximize the options for the Grand Prix: «We have managed to learn a couple of things in these wet conditions, so in general we can say that it has been a productive Friday. Now it’s time to prepare for tomorrow’s classification.
For Saturday conditions are expected to be sunny and dry at Suzukaso Sainz and the rest of the competitors will have their first contact with conventional tires in Free Practice 3. The race as such, the first in Formula 1 in Japan since 2019, could start under similar circumstances, but the expected rain that will unload in the Japanese afternoon could come early enough to influence the development of the test
Photos: Scuderia Ferrari