Lewis Hamilton and George Russell set second and eighth fastest times in their second practice session at Silverstone. And although Mercedes is happy with the speed, both drivers noticed the build-up of the car in the corners.
Lewis Hamilton (2nd): “Good day. In the first practice I was able to do 10 laps – more than most others, so I’m happy. The special thing about Silverstone is that it can rain in one corner or a semicircle and the rest of the track remains dry. In the first practice, the track was wet in Turn 6 and 7 and a bit in 9th, while the rest of the tarmac remained dry.
The car continues to lurch a bit, but not on straight lines, but in curves, so there is still work to be done. It feels like we’ve made a small step forward, but we have to keep working.
The current generation car cannot be driven on these tracks as we are used to because of the stiff suspension, but it is still fun to drive through Maggotts, Becketts and Stowe – those are my favorite corners.
It’s hard to judge the effectiveness of the new products because the track is very different from the one in Montreal – there were slow corners, and here are medium and fast ones. In addition, the asphalt is smoother. Overall, Silverstone is the best track that gives you goosebumps.
In a long series of laps we are not as fast as some rivals, but we are not far behind. The fans give me hope – it’s nice to see them in the stands, I appreciate their support.”
George Russell (8th): “Compared to Lewis I had problems on a fast lap. The speed of a long lap looks promising compared to McLaren who also drove on hard tyres. When the tires warmed up, I showed the same time as the Ferrari drivers and added with each lap.
We have seen positive signs, but there is certainly room for improvement. You have to understand why the pace is much more competitive in a long series of laps than in a fast one. The McLaren drivers are very fast in one lap and we can’t get the tires to work. We have to find a balance because you can’t put all your eggs in one basket and only bet on Sundays.
Silverstone is very different from Montreal and Baku – we knew there would be problems in fast corners, and we saw this in Copse, Maggotts and Becketts – the car wobbled in it and we have to understand why. However, the car no longer wobbles in straight lines, which is positive.”
Source: F1 News
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