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The two free
practice sessions in Silverstone were in marked contrast: cool and overcast
conditions in the morning with a threat of rain followed by warm and dry
conditions in the afternoon, with air and track temperatures peaking at 22
and 35 degrees centigrade respectively.
This allowed drivers to try all three tyres nominated for Silverstone –
hard, medium and soft – in a wide variety of conditions, gathering an ample
range of data with different fuel loads on each compound. As the weather
forecast for the weekend remains uncertain, this will provide extremely
useful information prior to the race.
Continuing a recurrent theme this year, last season’s pole position time was
already comprehensively beaten in FP1, underlining how much quicker the cars
have become since 2015. The lateral energy loads going through the tyres at
Silverstone, with its long sweeping corners, is among the highest all year.
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time of the day in FP1 on the
medium tyre, which is expected to be a favoured race tyre, before
concentrating on longer runs using the soft in the afternoon.
Paul Hembery, Pirelli motorsport director: “Silverstone has been at
its spectacular high-speed best today, with last year’s pole position time
already beaten in FP1, despite the fact that the circuit was comparatively
‘green’. With rain forecast for FP3 tomorrow, and possibly even for
qualifying too, today’s sessions are likely to be very relevant for the race
on Sunday – although there’s a chance of mixed conditions at the grand prix
itself as well. Obviously all the drivers were running different fuel loads
today, which makes direct comparisons quite tricky, but in isolation we’re
seeing half a second separating the hard and medium compounds for now in
terms of performance, plus 1.7 seconds between medium and soft: so just over
two seconds covering the whole range here from hard to soft.”
Minimum prescribed tyre pressures: 23 psi (fronts) 21.5 psi (rears)
Pirelli fact of the day: Pirelli’s presence in the UK is one of the
oldest outside of Italy. In 1909, Pirelli Limited was formed in Britain:
only 37 years after Giovanni Battista Pirelli founded the company in 1872.
Pirelli’s first British factory was opened in 1929, making not just tyres
but also bedroom slippers – which were added to the UK’s product range in
1934.
Spotted in the paddock: Nigel Mansell. ‘Il Leone’ has a cult
following at a grand prix he made his own – having set seven fastest laps in
11 participations. This year, he’s here as a driver steward.. |
FP1 - TIMES FP2 - TIMES
1 Hamilton 1m31.654s Medium 1 Hamilton 1m31.660s Soft new
2 Rosberg 1m31.687s Medium 2 Ricciardo 1m32.051s Soft new
3 Hulkenberg 1m32.492s Soft 3 Verstappen 1m32.296s Soft new
FP1 - BEST TIME PER COMPOUND
Hard Verstappen 1m33.202s
Medium Hamilton 1m31.654s
Soft Hulkenberg 1m32.492s
FP2 - BEST TIME PER COMPOUND
Hard Raikkonen 1m34.374s
Medium Hamilton 1m33.505s
Soft Hamilton 1m31.660s
MOST LAPS BY COMPOUND
Hard Perez 14 laps
Medium Palmer 25
Soft Raikkonen 16
Tyre statistics of the day:
Hard Medium Soft
kms driven * 694 4558 2402
sets used overall ** 11 48 30
highest number of laps ** 20 34 23
* The above number gives the total amount of kilometres
driven in FP1 and FP2 today, all drivers combined.
** Per compound, all drivers combined.
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