McLaren book Silverstone: Lando Norris confirmed his position at the top of the timesheets in the second free practice session of the British GP. The Englishman impressed because with the soft tyres and the MCL38 in qualifying version he pushed to a time of 1’26″549 which is a couple of tenths less than last year’s pole position.
And behind Norris, who was unquestionably faster and more consistent in the long run with the medium compound, Oscar Piastri, the other driver from the Woking team, emerged, albeit 331 thousandths behind. The Australian did a race simulation with the soft and his pace seemed decidedly inferior in comparison with Lando.
He had to use two sets of red tyres, but Sergio Perez moved up to third place behind the McLarens with Red Bull: the Mexican was starting to feel the pressure growing (the two-year contract he signed has performance-related clauses) and was four tenths behind the best MCL38, while Max Verstappen attempted the time much earlier than his teammate and was not worried about seventh place because he achieved the performance among the first drivers who had fitted the soft tyres.
The endurance on the mediums showed good consistency, although not at Norris level: Red Bull is working on the development of the RB20 (there is a new surface) and it seems there is still work to be done to find the ideal set-up.
Nico Hulkenberg’s fourth time was sensational: the German with 1’26″996 gave a clear sign of how well the development of the VF-24 is working with the new Ferrari-style sidepods and the floor that looks like the old one of the SF-24. Nico left Charles Leclerc’s red car behind him and that says it all: the customer car is ahead of the official one. There would be no need for further words, given that the Haas is developed in the same wind tunnel and on the same simulator as Ferrari.
The Scuderia continued to work cross-trained between the two drivers; Leclerc used the Imola-spec SF-24, while Carlos Sainz had the latest Barcelona-spec. Three positions on the timesheets and a tenth on the clock are up between the two Prancing Horse drivers. It will be interesting to see what choice will be made tomorrow: will the drivers be able to choose the configuration they prefer, or will they have to go as a pair? The data from Silverstone shows that the red team (but also Haas) is ahead of Mercedes.
Lewis Hamilton is sixth just ahead of Verstappen, but he is six tenths behind the McLarens, giving the impression that the W15 is less suited to the English track than to Austria. The Englishman is ahead of the Red Bull Ring winner, as George is only tenth.
Lance Stroll, another one who like Max made the time early, is ninth with the Aston Martin: the Canadian confirms himself ahead of Fernando Alonso only 11th with the other “green”. If Valtteri Bottas confirmed the growth of Sauber with the 12th place, the same cannot be said for GUanyu Zhou who slipped to 18th place.
The Finn preceded Alexander Albon’s Williams, who left behind the two Alpines of Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon, less incisive than expected. Racing Bulls still in trouble: Yuki Tsunoda is 16th and Daniel Ricciardo fell to 19th place, followed only by Kevin Magnussen, last after missing the first round to make way for Ollie Bearman. The Dane worked for the race and didn’t think about trying to find the time. Logan Sargeant, 17th, found his smile again: he isn’t last with Williams and it seems that’s enough for him…
#Silverstone #Free #Practice #McLaren #dominates #Haas #Ferrari
