What we learned from Friday F1 practice at the British Grand Prix

[ad_1]

Max Verstappen continued his dominance of the Formula 1 season by topping both sessions on Friday, but the battle for supremacy across the field made for a captivating watch, with the promise of more to come…

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz pushed Max Verstappen at breakneck speed at the end of the opening practice sessions for the 2023 British Formula 1 Grand Prix, but a closer look at the data shows the Red Bull driver was under little pressure when it came to race pace.

In the other Ferrari, an electrical problem saw Charles Leclerc miss all of the FP2 cars, while the Aston Martin drivers had little things malfunctioning in their machines causing interruptions in the afternoon session.

At Mercedes, things were generally more difficult, which contributed to the home crowd having less reason than usual to cheer on Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. Fortunately for the ample crowd at Silverstone, Williams put in a surprisingly strong showing in both FP1 and FP2.

Here’s everything we learned on Friday at the 2023 British Grand Prix.

Today’s story

FP1 started at 1230 local time – with a different feel compared to normal.

Race one after the Austrian sprint event and with the development race looming behind Red Bull, many teams were trying to test the elements in the opening session around the usual goal of finding basic setup options. There was a lot of flow and aerodynamics.

In a really not-so-shocking development, Red Bull led the way here – Verstappen setting the pace in 1m28.600s, with teammate Sergio Perez 0.448s back. Fernando Alonso and Charles Leclerc were fourth and fifth (0.668sec and 0.680sec respectively), but Alex Albon caused a stir as he made his third-place Williams a home run – 0.489sec off the lead.

In the second session which started just after 1600, it was much more business as usual in terms of how the teams began to apply themselves – no more testing, just a deeper understanding of the new, better construction of the Pirelli tires now in play.

Verstappen was unstoppable on Friday at Silverstone

Photo: Jake Grant/Motorsports Pictures

Once again, as evidenced by the times below, Verstappen led the way, but this time Sainz was right at the Dutchman’s pace, coming in at 0.022 seconds.

FP2 was not happy on the other side of the Ferrari garage, as a short circuit forced Leclerc to miss the entire second one-hour session, which was delayed by five minutes due to the track needing a thorough sweep after several bounces and crashes in the Formula 2 qualifying session that was held. previously operated.

FP2 Overall Ranking Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1 Verstappen Red Bull 1m28.078s 2 Sainz Ferrari 1m28.100s + 0.022s 3 Albon Williams 1m28.296s + 0.218s 4 Stroll Aston Martin 1m28.866s + 0.788s 5 Hulkenberg Haas 1m28.880s + 0.802s 6 Gasly Alpine 1m 28.889s + 0.811s 7 Piastri McLaren 1m28.926s + 0.848s 8 Zhou Alfa Romeo 1m29.225s + 1.147s 9 Russell Mercedes 1m29.238s + 1.160s 10 Tsunoda AlphaTauri 1m 29.483s + 1.405s

Williams ended the day with joy spread across the box, as after Albon backed up his FP1 result with another third in FP2, Logan Sargeant put his second FW45 into fifth behind Perez. The team feels he has returned to his high-speed prowess that he displayed in Canada, but even so, his high stature has surprised even those in blue.

With all the usual fuel load cautions and engine modes applied, we could see the start of a picture weekend at Silverstone, which looks very good for Red Bull, and less so for Ferrari despite their one-lap pace.

The other regular 2023 racers found themselves in a big fight in FP2.

The Aston Martin drivers had suspended qualifying simulations for the soft tyres, due to problems with the car – Fernando Alonso was ordered to pit as he developed a tire problem on his AMR22, while Lance Stroll needed repair to the left wing mirror as it was loose fitting.

Stroll finished as the lead Aston driver in sixth, but his long session in FP2 was complicated by a stone kicked by another car which struck one of his fingers and caused him significant pain.

Mercedes FP2 finished with its two British drivers out of the top 10. As was the other Briton, Lando Norris in 14th – although at least the London-born Albon gave something back for the home crowd in his Grove-built Williams.

Albon showed well in both Friday sessions, finishing the day in P3 with teammate Logan Sargeant P5

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Sports Pictures

The drivers of the Black Arrows were left wailing from the hot 30°C air temperature in FP2, which in their direction continued to struggle in such conditions. Hamilton also had to give up his first lap in the simulated qualifying effort after he struggled to bring his car to the apex in sector one.

The new tires present a new challenge, but Red Bull looks strong

As the teams were trying out the new tyres, there was a lot more running than usual in the long run data gathering exercises late in FP2. Haas completed nearly half of the GP distance, as Nico Hulkenberg was pounding hard.

With all the usual fuel load caveats and engine modes applied, we could see the start of a picture weekend at Silverstone, which looks very good for Red Bull, and less so for Ferrari despite their one-lap pace, and Mercedes feeling they have a car they can struggle with. for a podium but would now struggle to qualify in the top ten.

Soft Tire Averages Pos Team Lap Average 1 Red Bull 1m33.603s 9 laps 2 Aston Martin 1m 33.982s 10 laps 3 Mercedes 1m 34.441s 13 laps 4 Ferrari 1m 34.506s 11 laps 5 Alpha Tauri 1m 34.541s 9 laps 6 Alfa Romeo 1m 34.840 s 9 laps – 7 McLaren 1m 34.695 s – 12 laps

Not available – Williams, Haas and Alpine

Pirelli believes there is a chance that all three complexes this weekend will be viable racing options, as a lot of teams have decided to take a long time assessing the weak points in FP2.

As can be seen above, Red Bull has led the way by a large margin on this tire compared to its usual closest chasers. This suggested that it was running on a standardized fuel load and had its drivers manage their speed in line with how they knew the tires would hold up on other tracks, rather than filling up their tanks more as was the case for other teams.

Aston will be highly encouraged by its performance on the softs. So does Mercedes – even if it has a margin to Red Bull of a whopping 0.838 seconds on average. This is because Hamilton’s times in that round were very consistent and really improved in his final laps, with the seven-time world champion feeling his balance improved as the tyres wore on.

Mercedes also feels the front wing update for this race is an improvement, but the wind and tire factors in play today covered things up a touch.

Mercedes ran a new front wing, but both Hamilton and Russell struggled on Friday, neither of them making a top-10 appearance.

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Sports Pictures

Previously, there was healthy cross-fire across the cars as they passed the Loop, Luffield, Stowe and Club laps. This posed quite a challenge at all except for Stowe, which has its own demanding downforce requirements, as low-speed corners are not an area where ground-effect cars do well.

This meant that all drivers were experiencing additional rear slip, which had a significant effect on tire retention. Additionally, there were high track temperatures to contend with in FP2. This means it is difficult to keep the front tires in perfect temperature balance, and if that happens, drivers will lose front axle grip as well.

Ferrari’s long run on soft tires has blinded its typical rivals, but it’s back to being Red Bull’s closest rival in the mids – albeit by a large margin for the suspected fuel-tonnage difference.

Medium Tire Averages Pos Team Lap Average 1 Red Bull 1m33.016sec 7 laps 2 Ferrari 1m 33.976sec 6 laps 3 Aston Martin 1m 34.416sec 13 lap 4 Alpine 1m 34.556sec 11 lap 5 Mercedes 1m 34.619sec 6 Williams 6 laps 1m 34.666s 15 7 Haas 1m 35.049 laps 7 8 laps 8 Alfa Romeo 1m 35.167 10 laps

Unknown – McLaren and Alpha Tauri

Ferrari’s performance on the media will be important to remember for the rest of the weekend if the cars don’t end up being part of their racing strategy.

In that regard, a two-stop race should be expected and it appears here that Scuderia might indeed be looking to split their tactics across their cars – provided Leclerc’s electronics issue is addressed over the rest of the weekend. Sainz has an extra set of new hard tyres available compared to the one set for both the Red Bulls and Leclerc, while the opposite is the new media for these four drivers.

Ferrari has had a solid racing strategy lately, but their qualifying calls made Scuderia news – because they’ve been poor. This has coincided with changes in low temperatures or precipitation (I think Spain and Canada more than Austria), which is expected for FP3 and likely also qualifying at Silverstone tomorrow.

There were no sparks flying for Leclerc in the second practice, after an electrical problem forced him to sit out the session

Photo by: James Sutton / Motorsport Pictures

what are they saying:

Max Verstappen: “It was a good day for us. I think the track was very slippery at the beginning, but I also think it’s down to the higher pressures we’re putting on the tyres. Of course, it’s the same for everyone. But that makes it a little more difficult in Low speed. But I think overall the car’s performance is really good. We’re really happy with that performance – really strong in both sessions and we can complete our program. Long distance looks good as well. So, very positive.

Carlos Sainz: “We need to keep working on tire management and race pace. This should be our main focus for tomorrow, as today we can see that within one lap we weren’t so bad. Overall, we are very happy today but of course there is still some work to do.”

Fernando Alonso: “It was very windy today which made it very difficult, but the car was good. We tested a few things in both sessions and there’s more to analyze tonight. It looks like the weather could change tomorrow, so let’s see what conditions we have.”

Lewis Hamilton: “I didn’t feel particularly good, if I’m really honest. But it must have felt worse for the others because they weren’t quite as fast or possibly had a bigger grade. The last part of the run started to feel more consistent, ie A reason. Maybe it was the wind, or the balance, or I’m just used to balance. This path is really about trying to balance the whole scales and making compromises here and there. There’s a nice balance feature and a great balance window. It’s back and forth, it’s not just here, and you can Just drive it. It’s like one end of the other end of the spectrum, from braking to turning, to mid, to coming out of every corner. So it’s a good fight.”

Read also:

[ad_2]