Five things we learned at the first day of Austrian GP practice
Jul.6 - Friday practice for the upcoming 2021 Austrian Formula 1 Grand Prix was busy today. The teams and drivers had to put in a lot effort to get some knowledge about how the softer C5 compound behaves on the Red Bull Ring. The also were allowed to test out the "new" tyres with a different structure. These tyres will already be used in next race at Silverstone.
We learned the following 5 things in Austria today
- Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton went fastest in free practice, setting the quickest time of the day in FP2, while Red Bull's Max Verstappen was fastest in FP1. On both occasions, the P Zero Red soft tyre was used to set the fastest time. But unlike last weekend, this time the red soft tyre was the C5: one step softer than the soft nomination one week ago. The C3 and C4, used as the medium and soft last weekend, are now back in action at the Austrian Grand Prix as the hard and medium respectively.
- Compared to last weekend, conditions were cooler: with a few light drops of rain in the afternoon. At the beginning of the FP2 session, which should be representative of qualifying and race conditions, ambient temperatures registered 22 degrees and track temperatures were 31 degrees, more than 10 degrees less than last week.
- Even though the circuit was used last weekend, some recent rain made conditions similar to free practice one week ago and there was quite a good track evolution during the day. Nonetheless the drivers and the teams were extremely familiar with it, helping to make both sessions a little faster than last week.
- Each driver also had two sets of a new prototype tyre, with no markings, to test during Friday free practice. This prototype tyre, in C4 compound, features a new rear construction that is being assessed for introduction from the British Grand Prix onwards, incorporating elements of the 2022 18-inch tyres. Verstappen set the fastest time on the prototype tyre (1m05.558s) during FP2.
- There's an estimated gap of about 0.7s between soft and medium, while the gap between medium and hard is about 0.5s (based on last weekend's race).
Mario Isola Pirelli's Head of F1 & Car racing says:
"There were two main priorities for the teams today: assessing the soft compound in C5 version, which has never been to Austria before, and trying out the new prototype tyre, in medium C4 compound, in the most representative conditions for the teams. We are gathering all the information we need on this new rear tyre, which features a more robust construction, and we'll analyse the data with a view to using it from Silverstone onwards.
The feedback we've had from the drivers so far is generally positive and indicates that it feels quite similar to the existing tyre that was exactly our target: keep the same level of performance with an increase of the robustness. As expected with the softer compounds, we had some graining on the soft tyre in particular, which suggests that we might see some quite different strategies compared to last weekend: the whole idea behind changing the nomination for the second race weekend here."
Below you can listen to the Pirelli Technical & Sporting Briefing.
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Not sure that you can judge much re ultimate performance on Friday. If you are a diehard fan it can be fun seeing what parts, adjustments and setups the teams are trying, and guess at their race focus. The rest of the 'fans' look for a more exciting diversion, maybe rare sunshine in England. LOL
How rude lol, Sunshine England , we've plenty of it, Unfortunately however we've plenty of rain as well, a windy and wet SS with a sprint race and a new tyre compound, what could possibly go wrong .... .
Sorry if I offended the newly PC Brit. I do remember a sunny day in Jolly Ol', wore long johns and was still cold to the bone (not to be confused with the George Thorogood and the Destroyers hit) . You folks need to pray for severe global warming. Oops, off topic.
Oh no you couldn't possibly offend a Brit , we see days like that all the time we call that Summer, you'd have to say something really Offensive .... and Nasty .... to offend myself or other posters here, After Brexit we are the whipping boys of Europe anyway lol, (apologies off topic first post of the day ).and as for learning things from the first day m my only comment is whats a full house in AT, 40K fans or 60K , ive seen two different numbers, either way, wow what a small crowd, but i suppose good old Dieter can afford it ., Now leave me alone , ive got to read a few more chapters of a new book ive got called ( mein kamph) , its really good its about, oh never mind ill explain another time .
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