Spanish Grand Prix F1 qualifying storylines: Mercedes’ day?

Through nine races, the 2024 Formula 1 season has offered many twists and turns.

The most recent curveball? George Russell pipping Max Verstappen for pole position at the Canadian Grand Prix. Both drivers finished with the same time, but due to the Mercedes driver posting his time first, Russell secured the team’s first pole position of the season. While Verstappen claimed victory on Sunday, Russell finished on the podium in third, the first time Mercedes tasted a podium finish in a Grand Prix this season.

With teammate Lewis Hamilton finishing just behind him in fourth — and securing the bonus point for the fastest lap of the race — it was the team’s best result of the entire season.

Now, on the cusp of qualifying at the Spanish Grand Prix, are they poised for an even better day?

Friday’s practices saw the Mercedes duo near or at the top of the timing sheets in both sessions. Russell finished P4 in the first session, with Hamilton close behind in P7, and FP2 was even kinder to the Silver Arrows. Russell posted the eighth-fastest time, but Hamilton topped them all, edging out Carlos Sainz Jr. and Lando Norris to top the field.

Might Mercedes be poised for another strong qualifying session in Barcelona?

“FP1 wasn’t the best session for us but we still learned quite a lot. FP2 was a lot better though and the car was feeling great,” said Hamilton in the team’s post-practice report. “The track was very hot, so it was tough on the [tires], especially on the long run. Overall, though, it didn’t feel like we were too far off being right in the mix at the front.”

Russell shared his teammate’s assessment, even if he cautioned Mercedes supporters that it was only Friday.

“We had a good day on track today. The car was performing really well around this circuit. It was encouraging to see Lewis top of the timesheets and we were consistently at the front,” began Russell.

”Our long run pace in FP1 was competitive. In FP2, it seemed that our single lap pace was slightly stronger than our long run speed but overall, the car is feeling strong. It is only Friday, but it has been a while since we’ve been consistently at the upper end of the field,” continued the Mercedes driver. “I’m feeling good and excited as this is what we’ve been chasing for a while. We won’t get ahead of ourselves though and will work diligently tonight and tomorrow to prepare as best as we can for Qualifying and Sunday’s Grand Prix.”

The strong Friday comes at an interesting time for the Brackley-based team. Reports surfaced this week of an anonymous email sent to F1 journalists regarding the treatment of Hamilton by the team. While SB Nation has not reviewed the email, a report from Reuters described the email as “ … purporting to be from an insider” and that it “… accused the Formula One team of sabotaging their departing seven times world champion Lewis Hamilton.”

Team Principal Toto Wolff blasted the email at the FIA Press Conference on Friday, even informing the media in Barcelona that the police have been brought in regarding the matter.

Never a dull moment in F1.

… Alpine?

Friday’s first practice session showed some promise for Alpine, as Esteban Ocon finished inside the top ten and teammate Pierre Gasly was just outside in P13.

FP2 was even better for the team.

When the checkered flag flew at the end of Friday’s second practice session Ocon was inside the top ten in P9, and it was Gasly who provided the true stunner, as he finished fourth in the session.

After a tumultuous start to the season, is Alpine on the verge of an absolute shocker in Barcelona?

Even the team seemed surprised at their strong performance.

“To end the day with both cars in the top-10 is a little bit unexpected from where we thought we would be entering the weekend on this particular track. Obviously, we do not know what the others are doing but overall, it is a positive start to the weekend,” said Ocon in the team’s post-practice report. “It was not the best lap on the C3 [tire] for me in Free Practice 2 with some traffic and there were a few interruptions in both the long and short runs. There are definitely improvements we can make in order to find lap time, so we will keep digging and try to make steps forward for tomorrow’s Qualifying, which is important around this track.”

Gasly surmised that the result probably “flatters” the team.

“It’s been a positive Friday for us, especially Free Practice 2. The end result, finishing in fourth place, probably flatters us and it was certainly a surprise, but a pleasant surprise, and one that brings a smile to my face! In Free Practice 1, we had some minor aerodynamic issues on the car, which we had to fix,” added Gasly. “Once we did that, the car felt good right from the start of the second session. We have a strong baseline to work from and my push lap on the C3 was good but I’m not completely comfortable in the car. There are some things we need to fine tune with the aim of feeling even better in the car tomorrow when it counts.”

If there is a team in need of some flattery, it is certainly Alpine. Even their result in Montreal — their first double-points finish of the season — was not without some controversy, as Ocon seemed frustrated after the race at some team orders that were handed down in the closing stages of the Canadian Grand Prix.

Then there was the other bit of news on Friday, the announcement that Alpine was bringing Flavio Briatore aboard in an executive role:

Briatore is a long-time F1 figure and has what you might call a bit of a checkered past. He was convicted in Italy on fraud charges during the 1980s, before his F1 career, and decades later was forced to resign from the ING Renault F1 team due to his involvement in the “Crashgate” scandal surrounding the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix. Briatore was then banned indefinitely from any events sanctioned by the FIA, a ban that was later overturned by a French tribunal.

The appointment was a focus in Friday’s FIA Press Conference when Alpine Team Principal Bruno Famin was repeatedly questioned about the move.

“I already answered questions about the past and I don’t really mind about the past. I’m always looking about future and trying what we can get and to get our team better,” said Famin in response to questions from David Croft of Sky Sports F1. “And that’s really our goal. And what I see with having Flavio as an advisor of the team is the opportunity to have his experience and to help us. He has a very high-level knowledge of Formula 1. He knows a lot of people. And I’m sure he will support us in developing the team faster and better. That’s all.”

As the saying goes, winning cures all. Alpine might not be ready to contend for wins just yet, but another strong weekend would certainly be welcome.

Even if some flattery is part of the story.

A “tricky” day for VCARB

At the other end of the spear, it was a “trickier” day for Visa Cash App RB F1 Team.

Friday’s first session saw Daniel Ricciardo in P15, with Yuki Tsunoda at the back of the field in P20. Things did not improve much in FP2, as Tsunoda crept up to P15 and Ricciardo slid back to P16.

Both drivers, however, are hopeful that answers can be found overnight.

“Today was trickier than usual. The pace isn’t where we would’ve liked it to be, so we’ll look into what we’re missing and hopefully, it’ll be better tomorrow.,” said Tsunoda in the team’s post-practice report. “The upgrade is working the way we were expecting but we are not where we want to be and off the pace we usually have, so we’ll review all the data to find what we were missing today.”

As for Ricciardo — who said on Thursday he wants to “earn” his seat at VCARB for next season — it was still fun to get a crack at the reconfigured Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, even if the team “struggled” Friday.

“We struggled a little bit today and missed a bit of competitiveness, but driving is always fun and before today I hadn’t done this track with this last sector. It was the old one a long time ago, now the new one again, and I have to say that I much prefer it because I think that it definitely brings the track to life a bit more,” said Ricciardo. “The main upgrade we brought here is the floor, and with these cars, it’s such a big part of development. There’s still some optimism and once we dive into it tonight, we’ll find how it’s working and better ways to set up the car around it. We still have a bit to do but I hope we can improve for tomorrow.”

As noted by both drivers, VCARB brought a host of upgrades to Barcelona, including a new floor for the RB01. That may have put them on the back foot Friday, but hopefully for the team they can unlock more pace and performance after diving into the data overnight.

Checking in on the title fights

Returning to the front of the field the teams and drivers fighting for position at the top of their respective standings might be in different frames of mind heading into Saturday.

McLaren saw both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri inside the top ten of both sessions, with Norris topping the sheets in FP1 and then finishing third in FP2. “Overall, no surprises. It looks pretty tight at the front of the field, and we can see, like we’ve been seeing lately, that all cars seem to be able to produce quick laps,” said Team Principal Andrea Stella. “We’ll have to stay focused and deliver good laps, but the potential is encouraging, and we’ll try to maximise our performance to score as many points as possible this weekend.”

Ferrari, who are hoping for a bounceback after a disastrous Canadian Grand Prix saw both Carlos Sainz Jr. and Charles Leclerc finish outside the points, might view Friday as a bit of a mixed session. Results-wise Sainz had a particularly strong day, finishing third in FP1, and second in FP2. But both drivers described Friday’s dual practice sessions as “tricky” from their point of view.

“Quite a tricky Friday, as always here in Barcelona when the sun is up and the track changes quite quickly. We struggled a bit in both sessions to get the right balance on the car, but I think everyone had similar issues today. So overall, I’m reasonably happy with the car, but we have work to do, especially race pace-wise,” said Sainz in the team’s post-practice report. “What I really enjoyed today was the atmosphere at the track. Thank you to all the fans for their support. I’m looking forward to putting on a good show tomorrow!”

On the other side of the garage Leclerc — who finished P11 in FP1 and P6 in FP2 — echoed his teammate’s thoughts. “Overall, a tricky day on my side. We struggled quite a bit with the balance of the car, so set-up work will be our main focus ahead of tomorrow,” said Leclerc. “We ran a new package in FP2, but we still have lots of work to do as I am not fully comfortable yet.”

As for Red Bull, they too are left looking for some answers. Verstappen was inside the top five in both sessions but never seemed confident in the RB20. At one point in FP2 Verstappen reported that the car was rather “loose,” radioing into the team that “[t]he car is loose in the exits in general. Still just weird understeer mid-corner, this car doesn’t bite.”

Teammate Sergio Pérez placed fifth in the first session, but was outside the top ten in the second, posting the 13th-fastest time.

Following the session Team Principal Christian Horner indicated that it was going to be “tight” this weekend in Barcelona. “Obviously it’s going to be tight. It’s going to be close,” said Horner. “I think we got some very good data, so plenty of work to do this evening.

“It’s going to be a very tight race here in Barcelona.”

Shaping up to be a theme of the season.