The first day of free practice at Albert Park has once again shown that Ferrari has a very competitive car and that Red Bull will have to do its best to beat the Italians.
The first day of free practice in Melbourne on the occasion of the Australian Grand Prix presents us again an exciting duel between Ferrari and Red Bull.
In previous races, Red Bull has used its higher top speed to stand up to a Ferrari team that seems superior in the corners. While in Bahrain Charles Leclerc beat Max Verstappen, on the fast Jeddah Corniche circuit it was the Dutchman who emerged victorious.
“In Jeddah we were simply going with less downforce”
But Verstappen denies that the Red Bull engine is superior to the Italian and believes that its top speed advantage was mainly due to the chosen aerodynamic configuration.
“Personally, I think Ferrari is a rocket on the straights,” says the reigning world champion. “I don’t know, maybe not everyone agrees with me. Of course this also depends on the wing configuration. We had a good top speed, but I wouldn’t say we’re faster. In Jeddah we were just going with less downforce.”.
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In Albert Park, the first data collected in free practice this Friday have once again presented Red Bull with an advantage of approximately 10 km/h at the fastest point of the circuit, although the best time has been for Charles Leclerc.
“It is also interesting that you can choose different levels of downforce and thus achieve the same lap time.. Of course that helps in duels. But I don’t know what the others will do. First we have to see how much grip we will have », Verstappen pointed out in relation to the configuration that his team will choose for this race.
Leclerc, an old acquaintance
On a more personal level, Max Verstappen has talked about his duel for the title with Charles Leclerc, whom he knows well after having coincided with the Monegasque during his years in karting.
“Of course every driver is different and I have known Charles for a long time because we are the same age. We have battled each other in karting before and so far this year it has gone very well in that regard.. We also had a lot of good duels last season, which were fun. I hope, of course, that things continue like this », he has summed up.
So far, both have met twice for victory, disputing position in a tough and aggressive way, but always clean and free of incidents.
Source: Speed Week