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The first day of
track action for the British Grand Prix was held in stereotypical English
summer weather. It was on the cool side, the air temperature never getting
above 20 °C, the track fluctuating between 20 and 29 ° and considerably
lower when it started to rain towards the end of FP2. In fact, the odd
shower interspersed with occasional short bursts of sunshine was the order
of the day for all three categories on track with Pirelli tyres today.
McLaren made its mark on Formula 1 proceedings, with Lando Norris quickest
in both sessions. In FP1, the Englishman stopped the clocks in 1’27”420,
while in the second hour he got down to 1’26”549, which is 171 thousandths
quicker than last year’s pole position time of 1’26”720 set by Max
Verstappen. This afternoon, three other drivers also got under the 1’27”
barrier: Oscar Piastri (1’26”880), Sergio Perez (1’26”983) and Nico
Hulkenberg (1’26”990). No fewer than four young drivers were give a run in
FP1, Englishman Oliver Bearman, Australian Jack Doohan, Argentina’s Franco
Colapinto and France’s Isack Hadjar – respectively replacing regular drivers
Kevin Magnussen (Haas), Pierre Gasly (Alpine), Logan Sargeant (Williams) and
Sergio Perez (Red Bull).
THE DAY ON
TRACK:
As for tyre use, it was a pretty standard day, with teams working on car
set-up and on a comparison of the Medium and Soft tyres over a long run. The
Hard saw the most use in the first session: Lance Stroll was the only driver
who did not complete a single lap with the C1, but he did use it for his
first run in FP2. In the second session, it’s worth noting that the
Intermediate tyres were called into play by nine drivers, who thus had an
initial impression of its handling on a track that was getting progressively
wetter towards the end, thus having a little amount of information which
could be useful for later in the weekend, as the weather forecast is
variable to say the least.
Simone Berra: Chief Engineer:
“The most salient data from today is the significant reduction in lap time
compared to a year ago, as can be seen from the fact that Norris’ best time
is already almost two tenths under Verstappen’s 2023 pole time. Unless
qualifying takes place on a wet track, it is therefore almost certain that
the pole time will be significantly lower than the 1’26”1 predicted from the
average of the simulations received from the teams prior to each race. The
cooler temperatures compared to last year have definitely had a major
influence but it’s also true that on such a demanding and challenging track,
the real potential of this year’s cars comes to the fore more than at any
other circuit.
“From an initial analysis of the data from the two hours of free practice,
we can say first of all that the performance difference between the
compounds is in line with what we saw two weeks ago in Barcelona, namely
around half a second between the Hard and the Medium and just over a second
between the Medium and the Soft. Compared to last year, it seems the Hard is
working better, both over a long run and in terms of pure performance, which
puts it in play for the race, rather than the Soft which suffered with a bit
of graining today."
FORMULA 2
It was a special day for Isack Hadjar who drove the Red Bull in the first
Formula 1 free practice session, before clinching a very important pole
position in Formula 2 qualifying at the end of the session run under the
threat of rain, although the track stayed dry throughout. The French Campos
Racing driver set a best time of 1’39”368, 251 thousandths faster than his
fellow countryman, Art Grand Prix’s Victor Martins (1’39”619).
FORMULA 3
Rain played a major role in Formula 3 qualifying. The session began on a dry
track, but then a heavy downpour forced a switch to rain tyres. When the
rain eased off, it still seemed impossible to go back to slicks, but the
track surface dried rapidly so that in the very final minutes, everyone had
one more chance. In the end, pole went to Englishman Luke Browning (Hitech
Pulse-Eight) in a time of 1’44”992, 44 thousandths quicker than American Max
Esterson (Jenzer Motorsport), who in turn was 47 thousandths quicker than
France’s Sami Meguetonif (Trident). |
