“In these conditions, my father will be fast”he said on the radio Carlos Sainz at the beginning of the first free training sessions of F1 Qatar GP 2023. He’s right and it’s just a clear example of how hard the asphalt is, how hard all the teams are struggling to find the key to the settings of their cars for today’s qualifying (7:00 pm/DAZN F1 ) and how unrepresentative. the times seen in this first session could be, where he dominated Max Verstappen with the final time marked by soft rubber. The Dutchman hit 0.334 Carlos Sainz and for 0″481 to Leclercwith the Alonso in fourth position, 0″491 off the best time but with worse rubber (medium), which in turn passed a Perez who was 5th, half a second behind his teammate.
The conditions are very complex. On a very windy day, the track was filled with desert sand, and in one of the neighboring countries where the Dakar is currently being held (Saudi Arabia), certainly the home of the current Dakar champion, Nasser Al-Attiyah, the track is more like a raid test than an F1 test. The asphalt, still new and will change its grip significantly between today and Sunday because they did not remove the first layer of bitumen, started with a lot of sand and the drivers were seen sliding a lot, also suffering from the low position of the sun , which is gradually disappearing.
Under these conditions, it is very difficult to draw conclusions. The track changes a lot in qualifying and in the following days and this brings greater uncertainty for the whole weekend. That is exactly what the renewed sprint weekend format that is being tested in Qatar for the fourth time this season after those held in Baku, Austria and Belgium has taught. The fact of having only a few free training sessions to try, in such complex and unpredictable conditions, makes everything difficult and can lead to surprises.
Now, classification full of doubts
After this Free Practice 1, the next thing will be real fire, with a classification dispute this Friday afternoon (the Sunday grid will be ordered), before an independent Saturday with a short qually for the subsequent sprint race .
It was expected that McLaren and Mercedes could lead the Red Bull chase at this track, but for now, Piastri is 9th and Norris is 10th, while Russell is 8th and Hamilton, 13th. In ‘qualy’, without gasoline and with all available engine power, the image should be different. For now, Sainz and Leclerc, the two Ferraris, who did not arrive at this track with many expectations, started on the right foot. Alonso, also 4th. But this is just the beginning and the Asturian’s first goal should be Q3.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
