There is so much at stake on Sunday, both to elucidate between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, which the first contact in Yas Marina could only be fire of artifice. Even under the lights of the spotlights, in conditions very similar to those of the race, no one should draw definitive conclusions, because the two candidates for the title are in something else. The heptacampeon, author of the best time chrono (1: 23.691), monitors each step of an aspirant who had led the first session (1: 25,009). Meanwhile, the rest of the grill is limited to observing with some amazement. Alpine, with better sensations that Ferrari, at least could sneak Esteban Ocher in second place, only 34 hundredths from the head.
The elimination of the most revised sections has sat well to Fernando Alonso's car, which nevertheless saw its best time by transferring the limits on the 16th curve. The Asturian had to settle for the sixth square (1: 24,495), almost medium Second of his garage partner. In any case, with that RENAULT engine, the French team is seen with forces to bend Alpha Tauri, its main adversary throughout the entire tamporated.
Efforts to improve the show seem to have taken effect on a clue that so many times deranged Alonso, given their difficulty at the time of overtaking. Since 2009, when he debuted at the World Cup, Yas Marina dragged boring circuit fame and this bad reputation has ended up convincing the FIA, which has executed several significant changes.
Among them, the elimination of the Chicane and the expansion of the fork in the curve 7, or the modifications in two sectors (curves 11-14 and 17-20) with the aim of making them much faster. If it serves as a sample, there are almost 11 seconds of difference between the best return of Verstappen (1: 24.332) and the one that earned the 'Pole' 11 months ago (1: 35,246). They also value as warnings the touch of Valtteri Bottas against the wall of the curve 14 or the strong accident of Kimi Raikkonen with which Friday operations would be closed.
At first time, the exit of the curve 16 had already become a critical zone. At that point, those who most suffered were the Mercedes, who pierced the limits and saw their times eliminated. Even Alonso had to give up a chrono for going too long. It was not the only scare for the Asturian, who came from suffering a small runway out in the curve 1. Although nobody knows anything about the configuration of the engines or the load of gasoline, the six tenths of deficit against the head They assumed a encouraging start to the Ovetense.
Something more complicated was the start to Sainz, wanting to take the closure to the championship with its fifteenth race followed at the points. Despite the words as a breath of Mattia Binotto, who got rid of praise towards his pilot during the press conference, Madrid did not find a way to uneven unpredictable Yuki Tsunoda. In the first session he suffered a scare against Sebastian Vettel Curve 4 and under the light of the bulbs could not even dodge the traffic to complete a return truly thoroughly.
Charles Leclerc, three tenths faster than his garage companion, looked a striking aerodynamic modification in his back spoiler. And nobody loses a second in the preparations for 2022. Although at a technical level, nothing as exciting as the decision around the engines during this weekend. If Mercedes dares to assemble a new one, as he did in Brazil, it may be worth facing the pertinent penalties.
Date Of Update: 10 December 2021, 11:21
