The first full day of practice of the 2024 F1 season brought many surprises. The first was Daniel Ricciardo’s shocking performance in the first practice session, as he topped the RB01 in FP1 for the Visa Cash App RB F1 Team at the top of the timesheet. Then, in FP2, there was even more shock as Mercedes achieved a one-two finish in first place with Lewis Hamilton followed by teammate George Russell. Mercedes’ performance certainly caught the eye as many teams recorded qualifying runs during FP2.
Another surprise in FP2? Haas. As the dust settled in Bahrain on Thursday night, Kevin Magnussen was 14th and Nico Hulkenberg seventh, just half a second off the pace set by Hamilton.
And some of his midfield rivals are taking note.
“The cars around me, especially Haas, are faster than I would like, so I have to look at how I can improve even more,” said Albon in the post-practice media report from Williams.
Haas downplayed expectations in his own post-session report, reminding everyone of their pre-season limitations.
“The first Friday of the year was a really good Friday, so I can’t really use it as a guide yet. This morning I continued to focus on long runs and race pace, trying out a few things. This afternoon we have our normal program. “The pace for the lap might have been a bit unexpected, but there’s no reason to get too excited or ambitious now,” said Hulkenberg. “I think there were some guys with more potential who didn’t run as fuel efficient, but it’s going to be a tough battle and it’s going to be fun to watch.
“We expect conditions to be very difficult in qualifying, just like last year, and this will continue to be the case. Therefore, even the smallest mistake can have a big impact. Where will we focus our efforts? I don’t know exactly, but I’m going to give everything I have tomorrow.”
Teammates say Haas has made progress with tire deterioration, which had been an Achilles’ heel a season ago.
“I think it was a pretty fulfilling day. There’s still a lot of uncertainty about other people’s fuel loads and things like that, but again we’re focused on the race run and that’s actually been good. So far That’s encouraging. As for fuel economy, it’s still going to be a big learning curve because we haven’t done any driving yet. FP2 was our first real fuel economy run, so there’s a lot to learn there. ” Magnussen added. “It seems easier than high-fuel driving, but I feel like we’re going in the right direction at least in terms of tire wear. I’d like to know the actual pace of the car in race conditions, but I’d like to know the actual pace of the car in race conditions. Gradients are better.”
Team Principal Ayao Komatsu outlined how the team continued its focus on race pace in FP1, which had been the focus for most of pre-season testing.
“In FP1, we continued our work from last week by focusing on long-run performance with high fuel, as that remains our biggest limitation,” Komatsu outlined. That’s why when we looked at the timesheets we were in the bottom two, but we didn’t worry about it and just focused on the program as if we were testing. I’m glad I learned a few things that will change things for FP2. ”
The second practice session gave them a chance to look at their qualifying set-up, and the Haas boss noted that the team had made some progress in that department.
“In FP2 the conditions were very different to testing and were actually quite cold. Both sessions were quite windy and difficult compared to testing. In FP2 we saw our fuel-efficient performance for the first time since the third day of testing. “Again, I didn’t do my best, but that being said, Nico’s rap was pretty good, but that’s not my main concern,” Komatsu added. “Then we did a high-fuel run and there were no issues, but we knew we needed to do a little more. What we learned through testing is reflected today and puts us in a better position.” It shows we are there, but we need to take another step forward, so that’s what we’re really focused on.”
Before the season, qualifying pace was the team’s strength. So it may not have come as a complete surprise that they emerged seventh during a session in which many teams attempted to simulate qualifying. But if they can find areas to improve over the long runs and avoid the tire deterioration issues that hampered them in pre-season, they will have taken a real step forward.
