Heads and tails for Sainz and Alonso in Barcelona with the best of a handkerchief

Equality is supreme and Carlos Sainz It is in the ointment. It is expected that everything can be tight Barcelona, and although final confirmation is missing this Saturday in qualifying (4:00 pm/DAZN), it appears to be true. On a more representative track than the last race, where things were very even at intervals McLaren and Red Bull, another great battle is expected between those in orange and those on energy drinks on a circuit that fits them like a glove. And there was doubt whether Mercedes can show that the good performance of Canada This is not a mirage. and know if Ferrari I can take that last step. And the Italians seem ready, though for now, with only one person: Carlos Sainz.

The man from Madrid seemed very comfortable from the start at home, in front of his fans. On Friday he announced to ‘Out on the road’ who wants to return all the love the public has received to Passeig de Gracia with a gift in the form of success. And on the first day of free practice he made it clear that he was not flattering. Ferrari expects its improvements in another titanic effort against the clock from the factory. Maranello and Carlos Sainz He fell to his feet on the Catalan route. He was very fast in Free Practice 1 without trying the soft rubber and in Free Practice 2, when he put on the qualifying tires, he flew, like Mercedes of hamilton.

hamiltonwith a Mercedes that had many improvements to add to the great performance of the front wing that debuted in Monaco and worked like a charm in Canada, ended up leading the day with 1’13″264, perfectly placed ‘the silver arrows’ ‘ in the fight for everyone at the front of the classification this Saturday And Sainz also made a good turn that put him in second only with 55 thousandths, however, the times will continue to improve and the all that shines is the 4th position of Alpine de Gasly (at 0″179) perhaps serves to show that there is still more cloth to be cut. Above all, because the French came before the ‘coconut’, the champion of the world, the current king Max Verstappen.

red bull He also brought a lot of improvements to Barcelona and also added a lot of work to understand them, just like Ferrari and Mercedes did. But in Free Practice 2 they hid more. Maybe it’s an engine issue, because they don’t want to push on Friday, as I already made clear in Imola Carlos himself after a difficult Friday for Max the Dutchman signed another pole the next day. Max should remain the favorite when his Red Bull has all the power available in qualifying.

So far, it’s noticeable that Max’s work is different from the others. While its direct rivals chose to perform their race simulation with soft tires, by the way, with a Carlos Sainz shows better speed in the long run than Norris’ McLarenVerstappen worked on a race simulation with medium tires ahead of a race on Sunday that could start on wet asphalt due to rain expected ahead of the event.

Leclerc was struggling before a main qualification

Chaos and uncertainty remain intact. At the moment, Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren and, above all, Red Bull, are expected to fight for a pole position, which in Barcelona means a lot because of how difficult it is to overtake on this track. Although it is not all due to strategic differences and the importance of tire wear.

At the moment, Sainz is on that ointment, but his partner is not Charles Leclerc, who has the opposite feelings for Carlos. He was worse than the Spaniard in both sessions and in Free Practice 1 he complained that his car was out of control. And in Free Practice 2 he tried a complete change of settings on his car with 20 minutes remaining.something that is not necessarily a good sign for Charles who, however, is always capable of recovering from a turn on Saturday, his great strength.

Alonso, 14th

In its part, Fernando Alonso, with an Aston Martin that didn’t suit Barcelona’s characteristics well, ​​​​was 14th after finishing 9th in FP1. In Free Practice 2, the man from Oviedo finished 0.827 behind the best time and his teammate take a walk was 18th at 1″138. He also saw how Alpine It flies fast, but not some Visa CashAPP with many improvements.

Fernando was not comfortable behind the wheel of his car, there was not much grip and he even asked to change the rear wing in Free Practice 2.something that indicates that it will be a complicated weekend for him, as he already warned two weeks ago in Canada.

Your highest ambition this Saturday should be to get into a very complicated Q3. The fight to belong to himThe top 10 is very close and Fernando doesn’t seem to have the best weapons to make it this Saturday or Sunday. On Thursday he warned: “I’d rather it rain during the race.” Only rain can offer you more options to shine in front of your loved ones.