Friday, November 22, 2024, 10:39
With the expected cold and some scares due to the completely urban idiosyncrasies, the first day of the Las Vegas GP left the Mercedes as the reference cars on the grid. Lewis Hamilton took the best time both in the untimely first session and in the second, although in the latter case by the minimum compared to Lando Norris, on a day marked by very low temperatures. The struggles to keep the cars on the track without any exit or possible crash caused many to experience firsthand the danger of ‘graining’, the effect of the rubber chips released by the tires remaining stuck to the wheels and, due to the cold, they do not ‘dilute’, which causes a noticeable loss of grip.
Carlos Sainz, among others, explained it in a very graphic way: «A Thursday (in Spain it was already Friday, not there) complicated here in Las Vegas due to a complicated track with very little grip that gave us a strange feeling inside the car. For FP2 we tried something different but we are still not satisfied with our situation and we have to continue working on it. The Spaniard, sixth, tested almost the entire second session with the tire that seems to be the one used primarily in the race, the medium. Verstappen, in fact, did not even try to do a good lap with the soft tires and dedicated the entire session to a medium that allowed him to cover himself and not show his potential. Aware that he has a golden opportunity before him and that anything that involves having cars in front of Norris brings him closer to the twist, the Dutchman left the American circuit this Friday noticeably satisfied with what may lie ahead.
While at the top they were fighting to see who could show the greatest performance and Verstappen was bluffing in this constant poker game that is Formula 1, the one with the worst cards by far in this final stretch of the year is Aston Martin. With the internal team on fire and Dan Fallows, the person responsible for the design of the failed AMR24, fired, the team is trying to solve the performance problems with blind spots that are getting worse and worse.
The image that is worth more than a thousand words is portrayed in the braking. The ‘bouncing’, that uncomfortable bounce that occurred especially more than a year ago when this new regulation was released, has been reproduced in a very visible way in the Aston Martin, thanks to a new floor with which they wanted to get closer to the upper area. Now the car is not only slow, but it is also annoying when braking and practically undriveable in the fast parts of the circuits. The feeling that the situation is irremediable is already evident in the three remaining races.
So much so, that Alonso has been testing “two philosophies” this Friday. «It has not been easy with the very cold temperatures tonight, which have made it difficult to keep the tires in the proper window. We have tried different configuration philosophies of the car in both sessions, we have work to do during the night to find more performance,” he explained, while calling for calm, ensuring that, with the most conservative one, they had better sensations.
Aston Martin is trying to save the furniture at the end of the season, although more by sensations than by results. Fifth place in the final classification is practically assured: they have 86 points compared to 49 for their immediate pursuer, Alpine, who achieved 35 of them in the memorable Brazilian GP where both of their drivers stood on the podium. With Mercedes almost 300 ahead, so mathematically they cannot catch them, the remainder of the season is nothing more than a series of races that they have plenty of. The development of the AMR25 is entering its final phase, with Adrian Newey already flying over the new designs, so now they only have to wait and religiously fulfill their obligations in the three remaining appointments. Fernando Alonso will use his almost bottomless patience while Stroll will try not to make too much of a fool of himself and, if he can, climb up to the top 10, which is not that far away: he arrives in Las Vegas with 24 points in thirteenth position overall. and has Hulkenberg within reach, with 31 points, in the tenth.
