On Friday, British car fans showed off their skills at the Silverstone circuit. 106,000 famous car fans braved the heavy rain and enjoyed the sunshine at the racing sports home. So after two practices - only one of which was dry - who looks to be the centerpiece and who still has work to do?
1. Ferrari home at Silverstone
There is something about the British Grand Prix that brings out the best in Leclerc , with the Ferrari driver finishing third in each of the last three races of the event. , third and second - but it was his teammate Carlos Sainz who had the best performance on Friday.
The Spaniard impressed in FP2, according to lap data Shows that he can have an even greater advantage if he brings his perfect form to the table. Leclerc would finish second in this metric, making Ferrari the strongest in qualifying.
Their race pace was less promising, but they still maintained second place, a tenth less than Red Bull , and led in terms of speed in slow corners. If they can advance successfully, they will be very likely to get their first victory since the Australian Grand Prix.
2. A long night ahead for Red Bull after a tough day
Red Bull are favorites heading into Silverstone not only because they have won the last six races on the bounce but also because they own a car better than their direct rivals have A racing car with a straight-line speed advantage.
But Friday’s practice didn’t go so well. Max Verstappen was unhappy with the overall feel of the car, with the Dutchman citing strange noises on the team radio. His teammate Sergio Perez struggled even more, saying the car was "miles off" what they expected based on simulation data.
Despite the difficulties - and lack of relevance - Perez remains optimistic about the weekend ahead, saying Ferrari looks strong "but nothing special" and he expects the title to emerge against the red car .
3. Upgraded Mercedes appears to be a step forward
Lewis Hamilton and George Russell The good news is that the W13 dolphin-hops on the straights. The bad news is that it dolphins a lot in the big turns
Overall though, it was a positive day for the reigning world champions - and the early signs are that their updated car is a step forward, bringing them closer Ferrari and Red Bull, and they're the fastest in high-speed corners.
Both riders felt there was still a lot of work to do on the lap, but their race pace was very encouraging. "In the long run we usually see those kind of gaps in the faster teams, half a second or even seven, eight - and that doesn't look like it exists," Mercedes Circuit said Chief Andrew Shovlin.
"It's probably a bit of a tune-up, a tune-up for the car. There's definitely a lot of work to do, there's a lot of bounce, it's tricky at highway speeds at the moment, but hopefully these updates will push us in the right direction."
us The numbers suggest they were third in the long run, some 0.67 seconds slower - but word in the paddock is that the Silver Arrows ended up being closer than that.
4. McLaren looks handy on home
Lando Norris (Lando Norris) finished fifth in 2020 and fourth in 2021, but in his home race, McLaren Len didn't seem to have enough speed to continue this pattern and get on the podium.
The top three may still be some way off, but Norris was in great form on Friday, showing such strong speed that he was even surprised at how fast he was on his way to the third fastest time. On the straights, only Williams performed better.
Our data shows that they have around the fourth fastest lap time, which makes Q3 the lowest target, and although they have dropped back to fifth in the race pace rankings, they can pick up the pace from Friday to Saturday Seeing hope in the year helped them perform better than expected.
5. Alpine could be the dark horse
Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso were keen to downplay Alpine's strong pace on Friday, but the data suggests the gap is narrowing after the big upgrade.
Their qualifying pace puts them in fifth place, but when high fuel runs are taken into account this improves to fourth, the best of the rest, just three-tenths of a second behind Mercedes per lap — —It’s the closest they’ve been all year. Their straight-line speed remains strong, a huge asset in the fast-moving Silverstone circuit.
It’s important to note that in recent events they have struggled to maintain their impressive pace heading into the weekend – especially on Sunday – in both the sprints and long runs on Friday. They can take heart from the early signs that the upgrade is working as expected, and with a good job overnight, it's possible to take a good step forward on Saturday.
With wet weather predicted and perhaps even a strong performance in qualifying, Alonso may be very excited, having performed well in these conditions last time out in Canada in second place.
