It is said to be a faster circuit now with the extra DRS zone, in practice drivers were already faster times than what Leclerc did last year on 2022 on FP2 Alonso did 1:18.887 to stay on top of the grid, for the most part the track was dry during practices without any mayor incidents or stoppage, on Friday there was some rain on FP2 but drivers still went out some with interm tires.

Drivers were having troubles in a few turns, on turn one and nine we saw couple of drivers like Verstappen did on this image, as you can see the grass has been turn up after a few drivers got off track on that turn.

Some drivers other drivers like Stroll and Lando going deep on the gravel, going into the gravel could very well damage the floor of the car and could become unstable and slow, one of the victims was Yuki Sonoda who almost crash but the gravel did its job stopping the car as it bounce into it but hurting the new floor that probably had to be repair.

The track was not exactly cold but temperature probably was not on point meaning drivers could had problems to warm up tires, depending on the compound of the tire the track could feel like driving on ice with drivers end up out of the track.

Alpha Tauri for this race came up with a package, they want to be part of the mid grid, they recently hire the second in command of aerodynamics of Aston Martin who a few years ago was part of Red Bull, on this new generation of cars the floor is a very important part of the car to create enough suction or down force to keep the car constantly attach to the track, its also very fragile and all that bouncing on the gravel could easily brake it.

It looks like rumors were true with Ferrari power unit having troubles, both HAAS and ALFA ROMEO had their engine change on both cars, this is no coincidence, this tells us that Ferrari engines are having reliability problems, counting the two Ferrari this make six cars from twenty on the grid who will suffer penalties during the season, its not looking good for Ferrari in the reliability department, their car engine and car still look fast.

Carlos and Charles were having troubles during FP3, ending a bit low on the grid, this is just practice, it says nothing about their performance during the race but it gives you an idea if the car or driver have problems adapting to the track and weather.

Red Bull this weekend things turn around, now Checo is the one having all kind of problems, both Red Bull cars start the weekend having troubles with their brakes, Max mention they were dragging the brakes, probably running too tight and braking harder than expected, depending on the driver changes will be made to the car, their style also adapt to the track and weather conditions this is why they may have different problems between races with the car since the setup changes, its all about balance. For Checo balance and the weather was not there for him this weekend, on FP2 because of the rain the didn't go out that much plus he was already having problems with his brakes making him go off track constantly and FP3 he did very few laps because of the same problem, hopefully his car will be better during Qualification sessions so we can see the fight for the championship continue between Max and Checo.

For the most part it seems that over all the teams that had the best performance as a team and not only individual drivers was Aston Martin and Alpyne, all drivers ending FP3 on the top 3 and without mechanical issues, Alpyne look very fast and could bring the fight for the fifth position during Quali. Aston Martin looks very consistent too but thats is becoming a trend by now if Alonso can get another podium.

Mercedes Power Train, it was mention by commentators that Aston Martin had to change their drive train for this race same for Mercedes but didn't mention if this was a problem with all Mercedes powered cars, in this group there is also McLaren and Williams.

With all that has been going on the weather, technical problems and how fast cars are, as long as the track stays dry I can see Max, Alonso and George (Red Bull, Aston Martin and Mercedes) to make the front of the grid.

If there is rain things change and there is one particular driver who is very good in raining conditions and thats Lance Stroll, two Aston Martin making the top four or two on podium for the race could be a dream come true. Been more realistic if it rains I would say Alonso can beat Max, in my opinion he is better driver on rain but again Max had brakes issues during practice.

Qualification Session will be very interesting and very competitive over all since there are many scenarios between teams with Ferrari nursing their engine, Alpyne looking very fast, Mercedes trying to stay on the mid grid, 2023 is just getting better and better.

On a related note, on the 27 it was mention online that Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali suggested to CANCEL Practice Sessions, I guess the reason behind this is because practice doesn't get as much attention by viewers, may be doesnt make as much money as the race itself but its very important for the teams, the drivers and the passionate viewers, the hard core fans who wake up early or watch all the three or four days of race weekend like in Australia, fans around the world who are devoted to a sport they love have one more day of action, F1 for the most part was boring for some viewers but its petrol heads who love practices to get all those details that make them/me love the sport as a fan. This would be a money move, they already increase the amount of races this year to 23 and want to implement more sprint races, drivers like Max has said that if they continue increasing the amount of races he would not enjoy F1 as much and could retire even earlier than expected, crazy numbers like 30 races a year have come up, I hope we don't get to that amount of races since it wont be beneficial for drivers same for canceling the practice sessions.