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The new runway surface and wind conditions made Friday's training session flawed at Silverstone, with almost all the drivers having an off-road moment at one point. But among the mistakes, who seemed in better shape for the rest of the weekend and who is struggling? We are looking at Friday's data …
SINGLE TIME
It was a familiar team at the top of the timing screens of the second day of play, with Mercedes again. But the gap with Ferrari was relatively small. It was Valtteri Bottas who set the fastest time of the day with a soft rubber tire of 1m 26.732s, and while his teammate Lewis Hamilton was second in the second place, Bottas was less than 0.2 seconds behind Charles Leclerc.
Bottas was encouraged by the way he started the weekend with vigor, claiming that he did not need to make big changes in settings particularly important for the car to be to his liking. This is unlike almost every rider chasing him, with Hamilton claiming he expects his teammate to understand how to save time, even though he is barely 0.069s behind.
"We currently feel like we have a good pace and the particularly long pace is good, but I really struggled today if I'm really honest," Hamilton said. "I did not have the car under me, I struggled with the back, you've seen me go several times.
"Valtteri is much more comfortable in the car for some reason, so let's dig deep tonight and try to figure out why."
While Ferrari seemed relatively competitive after one lap, there was an obvious problem that we will explore further and even limit their pace in a qualifying simulation. Excessive wear on the left front tires meant that the first two sectors were strong but lap time fell in the latter part of the lap. The new surface of the track could play a crucial role in this problem. Ferrari will spend Friday night trying to find a solution.
It should also be noted that Pierre Gasly – fifth of the second session – actually established his best time of the day in FP1. Gasly's lap of 1m 27.173 Friday morning would have been enough to allow him to overtake Vettel in the afternoon standings, and hints that Red Bull should take even more speed.
Add to that the tendency of Max Verstappen – 6th with Lando Norris – to overtake his teammate during the season due to his greater experience on the team, and there is an outside chance to fight for pole position .
BEST ALONE TOUR
All times are set on the softs
1 Mercedes (Valtteri Bottas) 1m 26.732s
2 Ferrari (Charles Leclerc) 1m 26.929s + 0.197s
3 Red Bull (Pierre Gasly) 1m 27.173s + 0.451s
4 McLaren (Lando Norris) 1m 27.546s + 0.814s
5 Toro Rosso (Alexander Albon) 1m 27.997s + 1.265s
6 Race Point (Sergio Perez) 1m 28.002s + 1.270s
7 Haas (Kevin Magnussen) 1m 28.059s + 1.327s
8 Alfa Romeo (Kimi Raikkonen) 1m 28.126s + 1.394s
9 Renault (Daniel Ricciardo) 1m 28.128s + 1.396s
Williams (Robert Kubica) 1m 29.935s + 3.203s
Again, it was McLaren who led the charge behind the top trio and enjoying a comfortable margin over the rest of the midfield. Lando Norris made a rotation in FP1, but his lap time in the second session put McLaren between the top three and midfield.
In qualifying, McLaren finds himself in a deadlock, while the next five teams were covered by just over 0.1 seconds. Renault was the slowest of the five, but both Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg made reference to free time on the table, with Ricciardo believing his team should be in the top ten.
RACE PACE
Regarding the pace of the race, things seem a little more worrying for Ferrari and Red Bull, because Mercedes enjoyed a clear advantage on Friday. Our data shows an advantage in terms of lap time with a high fuel consumption of around 0.7 s / lap for Mercedes compared to Ferrari, while Red Bull is 0.1 seconds.
But that's where the situation becomes even more confused, because the new runway surface and wind conditions made it difficult to get a clear order. Ferrari in particular struggled against tire wear during its run – something that could of course continue throughout the weekend – and the front left tire suffered a lot in FP2.
"We knew that Silverstone would definitely be more difficult for us than for the last race, without a doubt," said team manager Mattia Binotto. "But we are also curious to see the progress of the car, the progress made in recent weeks.
"The day was very difficult, it's still too early. But we had a very significant wear of the front tires, in the front left … There was understeer, and this understeer (hurts) to these tires, damaging them in a gasoline diet high.
"I think we're going to focus on tonight. During the night we will see what we can do with the garment in front. By the time the car is balanced, I think we will have better judgment of our overall performance at Silverstone. "
Ferrari will have to find an overnight solution to be more dangerous in the race, but its advantage over the straight lines compared to Mercedes is close to 0.7s / lap, which suggests that it will be difficult to double if he manages to win a position on the track. Winner of Austria, Red Bull also enjoys a slight lead in speed in a straight line compared to Mercedes, but seems to have less obvious areas than Ferrari.
McLaren's advantage in terms of qualifying performance against the midfielder seemed less pronounced over a long period, our data showing that they had a slight advantage over Racing Point, Toro Rosso, Renault and Haas. However, Renault lost part of its race because of the judgment of Daniel Ricciardo with a feeding problem.
VERDICT
Ferrari already warned that Silverstone would be less suitable for their car than Austria, where Mercedes was hampered by cooling problems throughout the weekend. With temperatures much more manageable, so it's not surprising to see the leaders of the championship set the tone.
But Ferrari's left-front tire problems will be both a concern and a source of encouragement for the Scuderia. Even with this problem, Leclerc and Vettel were within reach of Mercedes in qualifying, and the long-term slowdown would be greatly reduced if a solution could be found.
Otherwise, Red Bull also looks threatening, at least in qualifying. Verstappen will be the one to watch after experiencing difficulties on Friday, when he admitted being surprised at how close he was to Mercedes when he was not happy with the scale.
In the end, the new surface of the track gives the teams a lot of work to do to find the ideal position, so that Mercedes also has the opportunity to find more performance. But at least that means an extra level of doubt for the entire group by Saturday and Sunday.
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