“Tend not to show all their cards” - Ferrari stunned by Mercedes pace in Bahrain
Ferrari drivers a🍃dmit their surprise at Mercedes' pace in practice at F1 Bahrain Grand Prix
Ferrari have admitted 𒊎their surprise at Mercedes’ speed on Thursday in Bahrain.
168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Lewis Hamilton topped the timesheets, ahead of George Russell, in the second practice session for the F1 Bahrain Grand Prix.
It represented a major jolt of optimism in the new W15 which Mercedes hope will bring better results than the beleaguered cars of the past ♉two years.
🌠“It just shows you can never look into testing,” Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz told F1.com.
“Because people tend to not show all their cards, and it’s clear Mercedes✨ are going to be in the ꧅fight,.
“Red Bull in the long run were a lot quicker than in the short run, so I expect them to be also stronger tomorrow༒ and Sunday.”
Ferr൲ari, rather than Mercedes, entered Ba🎃hrain tipped to compete closest to the Red Bulls (which they may still do, from qualifying and beyond).
But on Thursday in FP2, Sainz was restricted to P4 and🎃 Charles Leclerc P9.
Max Verstappen was sixth, and Sergio Perez 10th.
“Mercedes 👍look strong, which is a bit of a surprise,” said Leclerc.
“But we don’t know which fuel [level] they were running, so I think we’ll have all our answers tomorrꦍow.
“At least on our side… no bad surprises.
“No good surprises either, just exactly as we expected the car to be. So we went thro🙈ugh our programme.
“In FP2, it was a bit more… I mean, I did a small mista💮ke on my fast lap, and it’s a one-lap tyre, so then that was it.
“But apart from that, it’s all about tomorr🅺ow now, trying to focus to do🍸 a step forward.”
Leclerc won in Bahrain two years ago ☂and still expec🌌ts Ferrari to fight at the front this weekend.
“I would be surprised if that is not the case, for sure,” L༒eclerc said.
“I expect to be there with the ♛others; the only question mark is obviously Red Bull, how far ahead they are in front.
“But wit༺h the others, I would be surprised if we are not in the mix, yes.
“I feel quite good with the car and it’s a much better start compared to last year, where last year we arrived at the first race and it was very difficult to know what exactly was the right window where we could optimise our ca✅r.
“[Thursday] it’s not the case, we know we’re in the right window for performing at our best with this specific car, and now it’s all about tomorrow, to try 👍and anticipate the conditions of tomorrow and make the best out of this weekend.”
Hamilton showered the W15 with praise, noting how the seat position had bee💃n adjusted to answer one of his key criticisms of the 2023 car.
But how Merced🐭es’ qualifying pace stands up to scrutiny on Friday will give an e𓃲ven greater indication of the W15’s development.
James was a sports🐼 journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
