Fernando Alonso wrote one of the stories of the last free practice session of the 2024 Formula 1 season with an uplifting pit radio right at the start of the session. But the Aston Martin driver had nothing to do with the sporting decision. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) secured the best time in 1:23.433 minutes.
At the end of the 60 minutes, Piastri was 0.193 seconds ahead of his teammate Lando Norris, who, for his part, did not get a clear lap and could probably have driven faster under perfect conditions. Nevertheless, McLaren’s lead over third-placed Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) was 0.390 seconds.
For Ferrari, McLaren’s oppressive dominance means that the chances of winning the constructors’ championship (21 points behind) are minimal. Especially since, at least with daylight and a track temperature of around 40 degrees on Saturday afternoon, the pace didn’t look good: “We’re nowhere. Nowhere,” sighed Charles Leclerc once on the pit radio.
Leclerc didn’t get an optimal first lap when qualifying was practiced at the end of the session with little fuel and fresh tires, and only achieved his personal best time of 1:24.098 minutes on the second timed lap with his set of tires. “It’s good that this is the second round,” says “ORF” expert Alexander Wurz.
Leclerc took ninth place, 0.227 seconds behind his teammate Carlos Sainz in fifth place. George Russell (Mercedes), Nico Hülkenberg and Kevin Magnussen (both Haas) lined up between the two Ferraris. In between, Hülkenberg picked up a valuable driving tip: “Kevin pushes harder at the entrance and has more speed at the apex of Turn 6.”
Incidentally, the session began with a very cheerful moment when Fernando Alonso said on the pit radio: “I think it will be a good day today. I have a good feeling.” Obviously a demonstrative counter-reaction to his outburst in the first free practice session on Friday, in which he sharply criticized his team.
The scene was received humorously in a Formula 1 fan group on WhatsApp. “Irony at the highest level,” wrote one user, and another: “Did they at Aston write a script for today’s radio after yesterday?” Or also: “Is there perhaps a look-alike in the car here? Or Drugovich?”
Shortly afterwards, it was almost a bad day for Alonso when he almost collided with a flying pigeon on the long straight and had to avoid it with a very jerky movement to the left. In the end everything went well and the 43-year-old finished 15th in training (+1.020).
More interesting conversations on the pit radio
There were also some interesting conversations to be heard on the pit radio. For example at Mercedes, where Russell reported after a few laps: “I don’t know why the pace is so bad. Everything feels halfway normal. But it’s just slow.” Eleven minutes before the end, things seemed to be over when Russell even took the lead for a while.
Meanwhile, his teammate Hamilton wanted to know from his race engineer: “Did I lose time in the last corner?” To which he replied: “Yes, you did, on George.” Hamilton asked: “Am I braking too late?” Peter Bonnington: “Yes, turn 16. George brakes twelve meters earlier than you.” At the very end of the session, Hamilton converted and secured P3.
And the pit radio can probably also explain why Guanyu Zhou once felt hindered by Sergio Perez (10th/Red Bull/+0.850) (“What the hell is that, Perez?”). Shortly beforehand, Perez’s race engineer had warned: “I don’t have any eyes on the GPS at the moment, so keep your eyes open and the rearview mirror.” Which Perez responded with: “Okay, I’ll take a look.” Apparently not good enough.