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I don't think you can draw too many conclusions from free practice. It is just that - practice. You don't know what old engine they've put in the car for the session, what strategies they're trying out, aero testing, brakes, tyres etc etc.
That's true, of course. It's like pre-season testing - it's not a reliable guide to how things will work out when the lights go off. Even so, they're out there doing quali and race simulations to try and work out how the car will react under those conditions, and to see what the tyre wear/temps will be like. Pootling around at 80% speed won't serve any purpose. I'm sure they'll have turned the wick down on the engines a bit, but it still doesn't look good for Ferrari. Chuckles.
Is the Mercedes engine such a killer though? The thoroughly unscientific impression I get is that the Honda unit isn't that far behind, and the Renault unit not too far behind that. The Ferrari PU, on the other hand, seems utterly pants at the moment. Seems to me that the Ferrari cheat/cheats (whatever it was/they were) caused the other engine manufacturers to massively increase their engine development rate, and now that Ferrari have been made to stop cheating by whatever shady agreement they've reached with the FIA, they're left miles behind.
Either way, I've been irrationally ill-disposed to the Red Team ever since the Schumacher era, so I'm happy come what may.
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Brommers
@Jonny69
I don't think you can draw too many conclusions from free practice. It is just that - practice. You don't know what old engine they've put in the car for the session, what strategies they're trying out, aero testing, brakes, tyres etc etc.
For sure they've dropped right back due to their engine TD, and for sure the Mercedes engine is such a killer this year that it's making all the Mercedes powered cars a lot faster on single lap pace. But Sunday is the day to see who is fastest!