What the teams said – Friday practice in Britain



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Mercedes

We were expecting Mercedes to be strong here and she certainly looked good in the second practice session, finishing with a brace and a margin behind Ferrari. It was not a worry-free day, however, with Bottas struggling with a mechanical problem and Hamilton performing a few jagged turns that involved deviations on the grass. With the reigning world champion on a series of four consecutive bars here, Bottas will have his work cut out to stay ahead of his teammate tomorrow.

Lewis Hamilton – FP1: 1: 28,122, P4; FP2: 1: 26.801, P2

"There was a lot of wind, a lot of wind, so it was not an easy day, but we were up there anyway, and it looks like we'll be in the fight." C & # 39; is still difficult to say after the first day However, Ferrari are usually a little slower on Friday and resume the pace on Saturday.The new track surface is better in straight lines, especially between turns 4 and 6 where it was already very bad before the exit of turn 7 and towards Copse, but after that, the Maggotts and Becketts roads are well maintained and the path is straight.The asphalt is very smooth, which makes it difficult the use of the tires, they come in and out of the window, and the gusty winds did not make the task easy.I struggled with the back and I left several times, but Valtteri seemed a lot more comfortable in the car so we'll we dig deep tonight to try to understand the problem is and how we can solve it for tomorrow. "

Valtteri Bottas – FP1: 1: 27.629, P2; FP2: 1: 26.732, P1

"I've had a good day from the start, both for my own performance and for the car's settings – it's always nice to start a weekend like this. less bumpy than the previous year, which is good, they did a good job on the asphalt and it was very pleasant to drive.The new surface is quite adherent, but you can sometimes lose very quickly the grip on the new tarmac.The car looks pretty well balanced, but I think there is still room for improvement, whether it's fast and there's plenty at Silverstone, so it's a Good thing I still think it will be tight again tomorrow and that it will be up to who will find the most performance tonight and tomorrow before qualifying, but it is good to start the weekend. on a positive note. "

James Allison, Technical Director

"It was a difficult day in some respects because the wind, as always at Silverstone on this old open aerodrome, was strong and bursts and it was very difficult to make a single lap, we saw the whole grid make small excursions on Lewis's grass was struggling a bit more than Valtteri, but both drivers eventually managed to record good first-lap times on a softer tire.They both seemed competitive today, but that's not the case. It is difficult There is a small change in temperature and the tires do not behave this way, the asphalt is just as new, so it will change as the weekend goes on. is a promising start, however. "

Red Bull

Gasly was a surprising leader in FP1, thanks to a late lap when the track was at his best. But the Frenchman then supported him by going faster than his teammate in FP2. Once again, they are getting closer to the rhythm of a rook of their rivals, but stronger on the pace of the race. They could still be the ones to watch coming Sunday.

Max Verstappen – FP1: 1: 28.009, P3; FP2: 1: 27.562, P7

"On my side, the day today was less good and I have not found a good balance with the car in FP1 or FP2. I slid a lot in the wind and struggled for a rear grip, so we have some work to do. Even if I am not quite comfortable, we are not so far and the times are pretty close, which is positive. There is much more grip with the new tarmac than all drivers like. In general, the new surface is a very good change, but there are some rather bumpy sections, especially in turns 6 and 9. It's not very easy with tires here with high energy turns, then it will be interesting to see what choice everyone makes tomorrow and in the race. It's promising that we're still pretty close to Mercedes and Ferrari, so there's still plenty of potential for the weekend. "

Pierre Gasly – FP1: 1: 27,173, P1; FP2: 1: 27.249, P5

"I'm happy because it was a very good day on our side and the best Friday of the season. We made changes after Austria and we have a good plan to make things better. I still have some improvements to make and my turn was not perfect in FP2, so I can still extract a little more, but overall I'm happy. It's only Friday, we will not be excited, but we must continue in this direction. It will be important not to make mistakes and play tomorrow if it is important, but the feeling I have today is much better. It's a high-speed track, and with today's wind conditions have been extremely difficult, because the balance changes from one turn to the next, but it's the same thing. everybody. "

McLaren

A good day at the McLaren office, except for a quick turn for Norris on the green runway. After that, both pilots kept their heads down and once again looked quickly. Norris is even involved with the Red Bulls, separating the two at the second session. Sainz also flirting with the top 10, it seems that another good qualifying might be on the program at the team's home race.

Carlos Sainz – FP1: 1: 29,162, P10; FP2: 1: 27.987, P8

"It was a good day for the team. Another strong Friday that ranks in the top 10 of both sessions, very happy because it is always encouraging. The factory team insisted a lot and we managed to make some improvements here. They still have to be evaluated after today's sessions, but they seemed to work properly. We need to look closely at the data collected today if we want to have a high return tomorrow, so do not waste time. "

Lando Norris – FP1: 1: 29.170, P11; FP2: 1: 27.546, P6

"Delicate sessions today. The wind is quite windy, which makes the car unpredictable. It's easy to make mistakes in some corners. The new tarmac seems to improve in some ways, but there are still some bumps and little things that may surprise you. So, not easy – but I think we managed to implement most of the plan, including lots of longer runs. We have a good idea to improve the car from the tracks we have traveled today. Even though it was tricky, we still did everything we needed to do. "

Andrea Stella, Director of Performance

"Silverstone still represents an interesting challenge for pilots and engineers. You need to set up the car to perform in the high speed and low speed sections. Especially in the low speed, there are some long turns that are very important for the lap time, so you have to find the right compromise, which is not easy. In addition, there was a lot of wind today, which made the car difficult to drive. Overall, the balance of the car was not perfect: we have some work to do to make the drivers more comfortable and exploit the performance of the car.

"As usual, Friday is a busy day and we have tried new parts that we still have to evaluate properly. Once this analysis is complete, we will make a call to find out how we are progressing with both cars for tomorrow.

"Another interesting feature at Silverstone this year is the new tarmac, which means we've lost some references to the past. Of course, understanding the behavior of the tires will be one of the main tasks overnight, in view of qualifying and the race. Overall, the day was positive as we were able to navigate our program without problems or delays. We have collected a lot of data that we will analyze overnight. We hope to improve the balance of the car and make the most of this important weekend for our team. "

Renault

Ricciardo's day ended sadly when he stopped at the edge of the track for technical problems and had to go back to the Renault garage. He had bad news – he had damaged his curb on the curb and needed a new Saturday, as well as a change of engine – even though, fortunately, neither of them will do it. Subject of penalties. Hulkenberg has run a full program, but again, French training seems to be lacking a lap.

Nico Hulkenberg – FP1: 1: 28.803, P7; FP2: 1: 28,217, P15

"It was Friday for us today without anything unexpected. The car felt good on the long races, but we did not have the best of the tracks with low fuel consumption. Overall, it was not bad. I feel comfortable, certainly not unhappy and we have the usual things to discuss and work like never before on a Friday. Our baseline is solid for the rest of the weekend. The new surface offers excellent grip, much smoother than before, with an irregular hump that gives the track its character. "

Daniel Ricciardo – FP1: 1: 29,031, P8; FP2: 1: 28.128, P14

"We have work to do after today's sessions, but I'm sure we'll get there. I do not think we will have a difficult weekend. We did not really make the improvements we thought we could do in FP2; so we have some work to do tonight, but I remain optimistic that we will be better than what we have shown today. "

Nick Chester, technical director of the chassis

"A good first day of racing for us. The FP1 was useful because we tried some things that gave us guidance on setting up, especially for high speed turns. The second execution session was also satisfactory, but we were caught in traffic, otherwise we would have been more advanced. Daniel unfortunately was stopped early with an engine problem; it used a specification A and would return to its specification B as expected and previously introduced. We have some things to do before tomorrow's race, but it's very tight, so finding just a little bit will take us to the third quarter. "

Haas

Grosjean had a Friday to forget – it started with a fall in the pit lane that damaged his front wing, then he managed to make a rotation and a flattening of his next pair of tires before being stopped by a hydraulic problem in FP2. His weekend can only go in one direction. Magnussen, on the other hand, had a quiet Friday and seemed to be solidly in the center of the field, but could not match his hectic pace of Austria who brought him to the lead of the chasing pack.

Romain Grosjean – FP1: 1: 30.811, P19; FP2: 1: 28.794, P18

"The beginning of the day was a little embarrassing. I turned off the pit-out limitation button, the tires were a little cold and the grip was weak. Then I knew that I was back. It does not feel so good. After that, we got back on track and ran our program. In the afternoon, I had a problem with a hydraulic pipe. We missed about half an hour of session, but we get good data. It's certainly a package that I like to drive more, but the performance is not there yet, what you would expect. The car has evolved a lot and when you come back to an early specification, it's tricky. There is certainly a better feeling, we are simply trying to develop it now, to understand it and to go forward. "

Kevin Magnussen – FP1: 1: 30.605, P16; FP2: 1: 28.059, P12

"It was a good day. I think we had a good run today, that's the main priority. We obviously tried many different things this weekend to learn more about our struggles. There is a lot to watch. The night will be busy for the guys who want to understand everything and understand what we can do for tomorrow. I still live in the top 10 qualifications, I will try to move to Q3 and qualify as high as possible. Obviously, this week's main priority is to have a good race pace so we can fight and score a few points. "

Guenther Steiner, Team Director

"Some mixed sessions. I think we are a little better than the last two races on the long stints – at least with a car. We still have to find speed for Romain (Grosjean). In FP1, he turned in the pit lane, then in FP2 a hydraulic leak meant that he had not worked fully. We still have an hour tomorrow morning to work. With Kevin (Magnussen), we have made good progress. Looks like we are well prepared for the weekend. "

Alfa Romeo

Raikkonen stopped on the track with his engine sounding like a box of pieces during the first training. A quick change of PU between sessions allowed the Finn to rank first in the PC2, managing a full program to make up for lost time. Giovinazzi used paintball to collect aerodynamic data, which the team will use during the night to lift their cars in the third quarter.

Kimi Raikkonen – FP1: 1: 30.747, P18; FP2: 1: 28.126, P13

"The problems of the morning made things difficult, because Silverstone can be complicated if you do not do enough tricks, but I tried to make up for lost time in the afternoon. There is still a lot of work to do, we have to solve some problems, but the last laps seemed quite satisfactory. "

Antonio Giovinazzi – FP1: 1: 30.099, P15; FP2: 1: 28.294, P17

"Overall, it was a good first day of action. The track was not as bumpy as on my last visit here and I was able to get into a good pace quickly. The wind made the situation quite difficult – it changed from turn to turn – but in the end, it's the same for everyone, so we have to adapt to it. I made a small mistake on the lap on the soft but I'm happy with the pace we showed. Everyone is so close to the midfield that we have to find the best configuration tonight and have the best car possible to get a good result in qualifying tomorrow. "

Race point

A quiet day for the team in pink at their home race, both drivers focusing on longer runs on the hard tire. Does this indicate a long, one-stop strategy? Time will tell, but if Perez and Stroll fail to find a faster pace tomorrow, the third quarter seems out of reach.

Sergio Perez – FP1: 1: 29,453, P12; FP2: 1: 28.002, P10

"There's a lot of work to do tonight, but it's a promising start and probably one of our most competitive Fridays to date – with a nice appearance in both sessions. We must make sure that we can lead today's performance to qualifying. The new surface of the track, which is much smoother, offers more grip and I think it has helped us so far. We have good information for Sunday because I have tried all types of tires and we can now start thinking about the strategy for Sunday. "

Lance Stroll – FP1: 1: 29.657, P14; FP2: 1: 28.240, P16

"It was a solid Friday for us and the car was feeling good. The program went ahead as planned and we finished all the tests. The wind is still a big factor at Silverstone – it was especially cool in bursts today and it was constantly changing direction. I think there is still a lot to come because I have not managed to get the cleanest lap in the performance race. I feel optimistic so let's see what we can do tomorrow. "

Otmar Szafnauer, Team Director and Chief Executive Officer

"A standard Friday rich in knowledge about the car, the tires and the new surface of the track. We evaluated some small aerodynamic parts this morning with measuring instruments on the car, then we turned our attention to the configuration. The new tarmac presented significant challenges with a significant evolution of the tracks throughout both sessions. The task now is to put the car in the ideal position for Sunday, while the track will have evolved a lot. The wind has also created difficult conditions and occasionally a shower, but that's what Silverstone is all about. "

Toro Rosso

Albon took the newly paved track, finishing in the top 10 in both sessions. Yet he used his STR14 as a lawn mower once, which will not have pleased his crew. Kvyat has also greatly exceeded the limits and hopes that a round without fault tomorrow will reward them with a place in the top 10 of the grid.

Daniil Kvyat – FP1: 1: 29,500, P13; FP2: 1: 28.008, P11

"At the beginning of the session, the tarmac was different, it was pretty dirty initially, but got a cleaner ride. We did a lot of tricks today, so we understand the car better and we will do our best to take another step forward. The midfielder is tight as always, so we will do everything we can to get the most out of the car tomorrow during qualifying. "

Alex Albon – FP1: 1: 29,093, P9; FP2: 1: 27.997, P9

"I think it was a good day for us, we found a balance we had missed over the last two weekends and now we have the car in a better window. We seemed pretty consistent in the long and short series, which put us in the mix. There are still things to improve, so we will work on it to qualify for the third quarter. "

Jonathan Eddolls, chief engineer of the race

"We came to Silverstone following two difficult events for the team in France and Austria. So we have spent a lot of effort over the last 10 days in Faenza and Bicester to find the main reasons for this lack of performance. We think we have identified the reasons and have a much better understanding of our limits in the last two races. We had an intensive program of well-prepared simulators with elements to fix it. Our first goal in FP1 was therefore to understand our analysis and implement the test elements on the track to see if we could improve the balance and bring back our competitiveness to where there were some races.

"The track is extremely new after being redone, and that posed its own challenges today, and we found that many pilots were struggling to cope with the lack of grip at the beginning of the session, nor was it helped by the fact that the wind, Silverstone was very strong, it was very windy and changed direction, which made driving a little inconsistent, but we managed to run well in FP1 to understand that our efforts have worked well.

"We took a few extra steps before moving on to FP2, and then we spent the session trying to fine-tune the balance in the short term.Our long runs look reasonable, so let's look at all the data and decide what to do for the future. " We seem to be back in terms of competitiveness at the end of the top 10, so close to midfield. It looks like the job is paying off, but we'll confirm it in qualifying tomorrow and the race on Sunday. "

Toyoharu Tanabe, Honda F1 Technical Director

"Even though, like everyone else, we had to face a new track surface and high winds, we had a smooth day. It was particularly encouraging to see that Toro Rosso seemed more competitive on the midfield than in the last two races. The announcement earlier this week that Silverstone will host this Grand Prix for another five years is good news for Honda because we keep very good memories of fantastic results here. "

Williams

Russell's second practice was interrupted after a series of gearbox problems that eventually sent him back to the pits as the team set to work to diagnose the problem. This left Kubica on the right track. The Pole managed a lap at the start of the 2nd PC, but then mastered the difficult conditions to perform a good amount of laps.

Robert Kubica – FP1: 1: 32.121, P20; FP2: 1: 29.935, P19

"This year's new surface makes the track a bit more spicy and the car behaves differently, and the wind was pretty breezy in places, which has a big influence on the car. thing for everyone, it probably has a bigger impact we're less strong, so more sensitive to those conditions, we'll look at the data tonight and see what we can do. "

George Russell – FP1: 1: 30,741, P17; FP2: 1: 30.514, P20

"It was a mixed day, it was amazing to drive Silverstone in a Formula One car, this place is amazing and the track is exciting, we had a gearbox problem in FP2, which was only Three laps, we're back a bit, but I'm sure we'll be able to start again tomorrow, which is a track I know well and I feel comfortable before the weekend. "

Dave Robson, Senior Race Engineer

"As expected, the new surface and the normal Silverstone wind made the conditions a bit difficult today, but we were able to evaluate some of the test elements and start understanding the tires for qualifying. The two pilots kept their schedule stable despite the brief interruptions of the VSC and the light rain.

"The stronger gusts of wind this afternoon made testing more difficult and George's gearbox problems made us lose our benchmark for some tests." However, Robert drove well and had a long run. We will now rebuild George's car ready for tomorrow, when we will bring the latest improvements before qualifying. "

Pirelli

Mario Isola, responsible for F1 and car racing

"The evolution of the track was the main theme today, with a new greasy surface, one of the unknown factors during free practice, as well as changes in cambers and bumps. the pilots were looking for the optimal trajectory As no one had raced on the new surface yet, it was important to gather as much information as possible today, but it was difficult to get an accurate reading because the track was constantly evolving. It also makes it difficult to assess performance gaps, but despite a few interruptions in the morning, the teams achieved their goals, also setting faster times than on the older but bumpier surface of last year.

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