F1 MATHS: Key numbers after the opening day at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Ferrari dominated proceedings on the opening day at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, but the Scuderia expects McLaren to return in full force on Saturday. F1Technical's senior writer Balazs Szabo delivers some key numbers from the first three hours of running at Baku.
Already quicker - Red was the dominant colour on this the first day of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, courtesy of the Ferrari duo of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.
The seven-time world champion emerged as the fastest men on track, posting a 1m 41,293s on the C6 compound in the second free practice. The Briton's benchmark was already under last year’s pole time of 1m 41.365s, that was set by the Monegasque, who today was just two thousandths shy of that time.
Almost half a second - Third quickest driver on Friday was George Russell, who posted a 1m 41.770s, just nine thousandths quicker than his Mercedes team-mate, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, but almost half a second slower than what Hamilton managed.
The softest compound - Red was also the colour of the tyre that did the most work today, the C6 completing 566 laps (77.11%). In fact, in FP1 the Soft was the only tyre used, something that has never happened in the first practice session from 2019 up until now. This early Friday use of so many sets of Softs is a clear indication that teams are keen to also have Mediums available for qualifying.
There was a bit more variety in the second hour. Eight drivers -Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, George Russell, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll- again only ran the Soft, while eleven used the C5 as well as the C6. The only odd-one-out was Alex Albon who went with a set of Hards on his Williams as well as the Softs.
Top speeds - Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson recorded the highest top speed with 354 km/h, while championship leader Oscar Piastri was 19km/h slower down the main straight.
In fact, Lawson completed his quickest lap with the help of a slipstream, but the Kiwi reached 349km/h without the drag reduction system, which means that his car is quite competitive on the straights in any conditions.
Piastri's top speed deificit clearly shows that McLaren have elected to use a high-downforce setup which makes the MCL39 extremely competitive through the first and second sector, but it also means that the papaya car is vulnerable down the long finish straight.
Sectors - Ferrari looked strong in the opening two sectors. Lewis Hamilton set the benchmark in the opening sector where braking stability and confidence under deceleration are vital.
"This is a circuit where you have to have mega confidence on the brakes, and I had some problems with the brakes.
"Also, every track I’m going to is the first time driving the Ferrari at that circuit, so acclimatising to that is not easy.
“We made some changes going into [FP2] and the brakes finally were working perfectly. I was able to really make some big advantages in terms of gaining on the brakes," connented the seven-time world champion.
Interesting choice - Alpine have equipped their car with the lowest-downforce level rear wing among all teams. In fact, the Enstone-based rear wing is almost identical to what they used at Monza two weeks ago.
This bold choice meant that the French-British outfit was strong in Sector 3, but Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly struggled for downforce through the opening two sectors.
