Party mode or no Party mode, there is no stopping for Mercedes this season. Champions finishes both practice sessions in P1 & P2 on Friday here in Monza.Valtteri set the pace in FP1, with Lewis close behind in P2 and Lewis ended FP2 at the top of the timesheets, with Valtteri in second.
From this weekend’s Italian GP, FIA and Formula 1 bans so called party modes to avoid teams exploring any possible loopholes in the regulations. With this new Technical Directive restricting engine modes,teams have to run only one engine mode through out race weekend including qualifying,Practice and Race.
Everyone in the paddock believed that Mercedes will be impacted more than any other team with this new regulation.But on Friday, Mercedes looked comfortable and faster than their rivals,Lando Norris was their nearest competitor during FP2 and he was 0.897 seconds down on Lewis Hamilton’s time.
Who said what?
After eventful Friday Practice sessions Hamilton ,Bottas and Shovlin expressed their views on how the day went and how the car feels during long runs and quali runs.
Lewis Hamilton
“The car didn’t feel great in the first session but in the afternoon, it felt like we made some encouraging improvements and it was much better. We have a few more steps to make overnight and then I think it’ll be where it needs to. It’s quite a bumpy track here and with the low downforce, there’s a lot of sliding. You need to find the right balance with the bumps and between the low and high-speed turns. The field is typically a lot closer here, compared to Spa, as it’s such a fast lap and there aren’t many corners. Valtteri’s quick here, too, so it’s going to be a fun battle. It’s going to be interesting in Qualifying, obviously we didn’t get our final lap in last year and I think the last corner will be a bit of a nightmare with everyone trying to get a gap, so it’s going to be hard work.”
Valtteri Bottas
“The car felt pretty good out there throughout the day, but there is always more to come. I’m sure we can still improve it, for example the rear stability was lacking a bit in a few of the corners. My lap in practice two wasn’t great so from my side, there’s quite a bit more to come as well. It’s an unusual track here, quite stop and start, with not so many high-speed corners and traction being very important out of the slow turns. The margins are so fine here and there aren’t many corners to make the difference. I was a little surprised by the lap times and performance compared to the others at this stage in the weekend, but I’m sure every team will find more time and it’ll be closer tomorrow, so I’m looking forward to it.”
Andrew Shovlin
“The car seems to be working well here and it feels like we are in a more competitive region with regards to straightline speed, compared to last weekend in Spa. Most of the day was spent understanding the tyres. It’s a bit hotter than last year, which will shift things around a bit, but overall they all seem pretty similar in terms of performance, especially on a long run.
There’s the usual work to do overnight on the balance, traction is strong at the moment and we have a few places where the front end needs to be better and others where the rear is a bit weak. Tomorrow should be interesting, to see where everyone is in terms of power in Qualifying as it’s the introduction of the new Technical Directive, that requires teams to use a single mode. The Mercedes-powered teams are probably going to be the most affected on a single lap, but our overall package has looked pretty good here today so hopefully we won’t get any nasty surprises.”
