Frederic Vasseur commented on the first two free practice sessions of the Bahrain Grand Prix, as McLaren currently seems untouchable..
The second free practice session of the Bahrain Grand Prix took place in the afternoon and was much more representative than the morning one. Once again, it was McLaren setting the pace, leaving a gap of half a second to their rivals — namely Mercedes and Ferrari. Leclerc finished fourth, over half a second off the lead, while Hamilton ended up in eighth after a scruffy lap and one second off the top time.
At the end of the second session, Frederic Vasseur summed up Ferrari’s Friday like this: “Yes, a five-tenths gap is a lot, but it’s clear that McLaren has been one step ahead since the start of the season. Then of course, due to different conditions and a few mistakes they made, Max Verstappen found himself ahead in Japan, and we were in front during the Sprint in China. But today, they still seem to have a two or three tenths advantage in terms of potential, depending on the conditions. We have to live with that situation for now and do our best — starting with avoiding mistakes. “.
Vasseur then added: “We have a good reading of the downforce on the car, which is a positive. We got what we expected. It doesn’t immediately show in the lap times, but today was more about putting everything together on a single lap rather than showing absolute potential. Hamilton, for instance, was on a good lap up to Turn 11 — he was only a tenth slower than Piastri — but then couldn’t finish the attempt properly. Conditions are a bit extreme, and we’ll need to put together a clean lap without mistakes. .
We still need to analyze the data in detail, but the drivers are happy with the updates. It’s a small step in terms of increased aerodynamic load, but a lot also depends on the conditions — once you overheat the tires, you already lose a big part of the gains you’ve made. .
