Mercedes ended Friday at the Spanish Grand Prix with the best race pace among Formula One teams. George Russell was the fastest in simulations with a full fuel load, with Max Verstappen only 0.13 seconds per lap behind after adjustments for tires and stint duration.
Kimi Antonelli appeared in third, but already 0.55 seconds per lap slower than Russell. Ferrari and McLaren had more concerning performance: the two Italian cars were around 0.9 seconds per lap behind Mercedes, while Oscar Piastri lost 1.51 seconds. Lando Norris couldn’t complete a long simulation due to technical problems.
The main advantage for Mercedes seems to lie in the final sector. Data indicates that the team uses less battery energy in the first sector without losing much time, and reaches the final stretch with greater speed. Ferrari stood out more in the first sector, while Verstappen and Red Bull were strong in the second. McLaren, on the other hand, appeared slower, more consistently across the three sectors.
No pelotão intermediário, a Haas surpreendeu. Esteban Ocon ficou apenas 0s92 por volta atrás de Russell, praticamente no mesmo nível da Ferrari. Alpine apareceu a 1s60, Audi a 2s20, Williams a 2s58, Cadillac a 4s00 e Aston Martin a 4s33. Racing Bulls não conseguiu completar uma simulação representativa após o acidente de Arvid Lindblad.
Outro ponto de atenção foi a degradação dos pneus. Toto Wolff afirmou que a Mercedes chegou a medir “oito décimos de degradação por volta” no TL1. “Nunca vimos isso antes. Nosso chefe de estratégia falou em seis paradas, mas acho que no fim será uma”, disse.
In TL2, however, the degradation hovered closer to 0.3 seconds per lap, a scenario that at this moment points more toward two pit stops. Pirelli, for its part, sees a different trend. “The track’s grip is really good, so very likely we will have less degradation than expected,” said Dario Marraffuschi.
