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Three Brits on
the top three grid slots: the Silverstone crowd could not have asked for
more on this Saturday at the British Grand Prix. At the end of a thrilling
and dramatic qualifying session, George Russell came out on top with a time
of 1’25”819, beating his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton (1’25”990) while
Lando Norris was third for McLaren in 1’26”030. This was Russell’s third
Formula 1 pole after those in Interlagos in 2022 and Montreal this year. It
is pole number 139 for Mercedes, the team’s eleventh at the British Grand
Prix. Tomorrow’s race will mark the 84th time there’s been an all-Silver
Arrows front row in Formula 1.
THE DAY ON
TRACK
Today’s third free practice session was one of the coldest since 2011 when
Pirelli took on the role of Formula 1’s sole tyre supplier, with air
temperature at 11 °C and the track at 13 °C. The record for low temperature
goes to the 2020 Turkish Grand Prix (air 10°C, track 11 °C). Rain and wind
characterised the 60 minutes of track time, with all drivers using one set
of Intermediates each. In these conditions, the tyres struggled a bit in the
initial warm-up phase, but after that they performed well, even over quite
long stints.
Qualifying provided an opportunity to check the crossover time from ideal
conditions for the Intermediates to the point when slicks could be used. In
the first part of Q1 all the drivers used one set of new Intermediates
before switching to the C3, the one exception being Hulkenberg who used the
same set as in FP3.
The Pirelli Pole Position Award was presented to George Russell by Marcus
Wandt, an astronaut with the ESA (European Space Agency). Born in
Switzerland in 1980, Wandt has over 20 years of experience with the Swedish
Air Force as a pilot, commander and test pilot. Back in January, Wandt
travelled with the Axiom 3 mission to the ISS (International Space Station)
staying in orbit for 20 days, carrying out experiments and research into
microgravity. |
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MARIO ISOLA - HEAD OF F1 AND CAR RACING
“It was a very exciting qualifying and provided a crowd-pleasing result with
three British drivers in the top three places. In conditions pretty similar
to those experienced in last year’s qualifying here, we saw that times have
come down by around one second, confirming how much car development has
moved on from one year to the next, given that the tyres are completely
identical to those used at Silverstone in 2023. Then, when one considers
that the grip level on the track surface was definitely not at its best
after so much rain had fallen during the day, one can surmise that the cars
might have been even quicker!
“Tomorrow, the great unknown will be the weather. If, as forecast, it should
rain and the track is wet throughout as was the case in FP3, all the teams
have sufficient sets of Intermediates and Wets to run a two-stop race.
However, if it’s dry, then a one-stop is quickest on paper, with all three
compounds being viable. The C3/C2 strategy is slightly quicker than going
from the C3 to the C1, while a strategy without the Soft gives greater
flexibility."
FORMULA 2
Kimi Antonelli took his maiden Formula 2 win in a Sprint race run in
difficult conditions, with rain testing the drivers’ skills. There were also
several Safety Car periods and even a red flag stoppage. Prema’s Italian
driver led the race from start to finish, inexorably upping the pace after
the last restart, eventually crossing the line with an eight second lead
over second placed Zane Maloney (Rodin Motorsport), while making it to the
third step on the podium was Gabriel Bortoleto (Invicta Racing) who passed
his team-mate Kush Maini, before picking up a five second penalty which
meant he finished behind the Indian driver.
On a very cold and rainy day, with very difficult track conditions, the rain
tyres struggled to get up to temperature in the early laps, but were still
able to go the distance, despite a red flag and several Safety Car periods.
During the interruption, those who had banked on an all-wet race and were
able to make ad hoc set-up changes on the car then had a significant
advantage in terms of grip.
FORMULA 3
After Formula 1, the Union Jack was also represented on the top step of the
podium come the end of the Formula 3 Sprint race. It was delayed until the
early evening after being postponed from its morning slot because of heavy
rain. Winner of the short distance race was Englishman Arvid Lindblad,
leading from start to finish in a race that required a few appearances from
the Safety Car. Joining him on the podium were Mexico’s Noel Leon (Van
Amersfoort Racing) and the Peruvian Matias Zagazeta (Jenzer Motorsport).
Lindblad is now on 88 points and getting closer to the top of the table,
having moved just one point ahead of Leonardo Fornaroli. Lindblad is now
third, behind Gabriele Mini on 100 points, who finished fifth in this Sprint
and leader Luke Browning on 106, despite failing to score today. |
