What the teams said – Friday in Great Britain

McLaren

Both McLaren drivers were fast in FP1, trading quick laps with Norris winding up just ahead of Piastri to the tune of a tenth of a second. Norris beat his team mate again in FP2, by a more comprehensive margin – nearly half a second between the duo. Add in that Norris’ time was faster than the very competitive Ferraris, and he can rest easy tonight after a nigh on perfect Friday. For the Australian there is work to do to get onto the pace of his team mate, but Piastri does like to build his way into the weekend, so there is still hopes that he can be in the fight for pole tomorrow.

Oscar Piastri - FP1: 1:27.042, P3; FP2: 1:26.286, P4

“It’s been a decent Friday. We’ve got a little bit to tidy up, but overall, the pace is good, so it’s been a pretty positive first day. Our competitors look close this weekend, so let’s wait and see. It’s been nice to be back out on track in front of such a great crowd.”

Lando Norris - FP1: 1:26.915, P2; FP2: 1:25.816, P1

“Tricky conditions today. It wasn't quite as easy as we would have liked, but we look strong. It’s only Friday, so there’s nothing to be too proud of just yet, and we’ve definitely got work to do overnight if we want to stay in this position. The competition looks very strong, and they’ll get stronger as the weekend goes on. We’ll get our heads down tonight and turn our focus to Qualifying tomorrow.”

Andrea Stella, Team Principal

“It’s been a positive first day here at our home race at Silverstone. We were able to gather valuable data across our test items and set a reasonable baseline in terms of performance, despite the tricky conditions, especially with the gusting wind. The competition looks tight, particularly Ferrari, which we thought might be the case coming into the weekend. We’ll be working hard overnight to optimise the car and ensure we qualify well tomorrow and give ourselves the best chance possible chance for Sunday’s Grand Prix.”

Ferrari

Ferrari were quick from the off at Silverstone, home hero Hamilton topping the session and Leclerc not too much further back. That new floor bolted on in Austria seems to be doing the business for the Scuderia, with the car looking nailed on through the high-speed corners. Interestingly, despite still being quick, Leclerc was unhappy in FP2 with the balance of his car – although he was quick to complement the speed on the higher fuel runs. Hamilton was fortunate to make it through FP2 unscathed, after nearly being collected by a spinning Sainz midway through the session.

Charles Leclerc - FP1: 1:27.095, P4; FP2: 1:26.038, P2

"Today went quite well, the feeling in the cockpit was good, but we still have some work to do on the car. In our qualifying trim, we still seem to be a bit on the back foot, while we are more at ease with our race pace. I really enjoy driving on this track and I look forward to tomorrow."

Lewis Hamilton - FP1: 1:26.892, P1; FP2: 1:26.117, P3

"It’s been a really exciting day. Pretty incredible to be out on track at Silverstone in a Ferrari for the first time. The car felt good in both sessions, even though I hit some traffic on my fastest lap in FP2, so there’s definitely time to find. It’s always amazing to be back here. This is the greatest circuit in the world and definitely my favourite. Great to see so many people already here on a Friday. The atmosphere is just incredible."

Mercedes

Russell sounded concerned about tyre wear in FP1, especially compared to the Ferraris – he was running behind Hamilton, and had a sneaky look at his former team mate’s rubber in the opening session. The better news is the car is in the mix in the hands of Russell, while Antonelli took a little longer to get going as he struggled to adjust to the soft compound tyre. The team mates reversed that trend in FP2 – Antonelli looking both quicker, and more comfortable on the softs than his team mate. As for their form, Mercedes will be hoping the forecast drop in temperatures for tomorrow help them as they look a shade off the pace as it stands.

George Russell - FP1: 1:27.163, P5; FP2: 1:26.523, P8

"It’s been a warm day here at Silverstone, with track temperatures upwards of 40°C. That made it a challenge to look after the tyres; it is frustrating that we are affected by the weather as much as we are, but we’re all focused on improving that, particularly as we head into summer months where this will be the norm.

"If the forecast cooler conditions do appear over the rest of the weekend, that will likely help us.We won’t just sit here hoping that is the case though. We will work hard overnight to make improvements and give ourselves the best race car for Saturday and Sunday. I love being here at Silverstone, I love seeing all the fans, and I am hopeful that we can still get ourselves into the fight at the front, put on a good show for them, and give them something to cheer about."

Kimi Antonelli - FP1: 1:27.367, P9; FP2: 1:26.383, P6

"Today was not the easiest Friday of the year we’ve had so far. The temperature was quite a bit higher than expected and that made looking after the tyres slightly more challenging. That said, the car felt decent, and I was happy with the overall balance. Silverstone is a great track, and I enjoyed being out there, exploring the limits, and pushing the car. There are clear areas for us to work on this evening, and for me to improve in my driving, so I’m excited to see what improvements we can make overnight.

"Tomorrow is forecast to be slightly cooler which should help us. We should have some cloud cover too which may help keep the track temperature lower. If we can make gains this evening, then our goal is still to get ourselves into the fight with those who looked strong today, such as McLaren and Ferrari. Let’s see what we can do."

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

"It is always good to get on track at Silverstone, the closest race to our two factories at Brackley and Brixworth. Knowing many of our colleagues will be in the grandstands this week cheering us on at the circuit is always a boost. That will provide added motivation for our work overnight as we aim to find more pace in the car after a tricky Friday.

"We opted to only run the Medium and Soft compounds today, like most other teams. We were able to complete plenty of single lap and long run work but were limited by rear tyre overheating. Silverstone puts a lot of energy into the tyre, and we saw track temperatures around 40°C, so the phenomenon was not completely unexpected, but it proved to be our main constraint on the long runs, alongside a tricky car balance in the gusty conditions.

"We will need to make a step overnight to be able to challenge at the front this weekend, and we have several areas we are already targeting to do that. We will work diligently trackside and in the simulator at Brackley this evening to find gains ahead of FP3 and Qualifying tomorrow."

Red Bull

Red Bull struggled in the opening session, with Verstappen running the new floor on his RB21. The Dutchman was left unhappy with many aspects of his car, calling it “unbelievable” on the radio. Lindblad made his F1 debut in Tsunoda’s car and gave a good account of himself with a tidy performance. Roll on FP2, and Verstappen was more competitive even if his car was still struggling with understeer. Tsunoda found the going a bit tougher and needs to find a significant amount of time overnight if he is to fight for a Q3 berth tomorrow.

Max Verstappen - FP1: 1:27.432, P10; FP2: 1:26.314, P5

“For me personally, today wasn’t a great day and it was difficult to find much balance in the car and in the corners. The wind affects things quite a lot but that, of course, is not an excuse as you just have to deal with it. It is not easy, but it is the same situation for everyone. Every weekend is a bit different and you have to adapt to the changing conditions and scenarios but our car does seem pretty sensitive to the wind this week. Looking to tomorrow, we can analyse our data and try and look at what we can do to improve, but I think overall we have just been lacking a bit of performance.”

Yuki Tsunoda - FP2: 1:26.980, P15

“The car feels ok, there is still lots of work to do for tomorrow, but I am enjoying Silverstone. Last weekend the car felt good and was one of the best feelings I had had in the car until the race and the pace was getting there so it’s about fine tuning now. There are a couple of differences across the two cars and some comparisons, so let’s see how we can adapt to put it all together for the rest of the weekend. The cooler temperatures might help us tomorrow, it won’t be easy but at least it seems like the weather won’t be up and down, but you never know in the UK! I have only had one free practice session, but I already know a couple of things I could improve in my driving and set-up, we just have to optimise it now.”

Arvid Lindblad - FP1: 1:27.958, P14

“It was amazing today, I am extremely grateful to Red Bull for the opportunity and it was incredible to get my first official F1 session. I felt comfortable in the car, and I think the speed was ok, but I think I could go quicker with a few more laps! Considering it was my first time in this car and I have only done very limited running in an F1 car I think it was a successful session. This weekend, F1 is about 13 or 14 seconds quicker than F2, so the step is enormous, but I am quite happy with the job I did today. Oracle Red Bull Racing have been really supportive, and I have been working closely with the engineers for a little while now, getting up to speed and understanding the game and level here in F1. After the session was done, I really wanted to get another go straight away! Basically no one else in the world has the opportunity I got today to drive an F1 car. I am just fully focussed on working hard and doing a good job in F2 to be a full-time F1 driver soon.”

Racing Bulls

Racing Bulls have been tipped as one to watch here, and they certainly showed good form in the opening hour of practice. Both were solidly in the top 10 and looked just as quick on the mediums as the softs. It was much the same in the second hour of practice, Hadjar fractions ahead of Lawson and both in the top 10. They look in the mix for Q3 for sure, and might even fancy their chances of picking off the Mercedes or Red Bull cars tomorrow, such is the latent pace that seems to be in the car this weekend.

Isack Hadjar - FP1: 1:27.217, P6; FP2: 1:26.524, P9

“It was a good start to the weekend today here in Silverstone. We were quite fast in both FP1 and FP2 and we were also able to make a few car changes between sessions that paid off, so it looks like we maximized what we had to. With high track temperature, it seemed like the C3 was quite close to the C4, which is interesting, but tomorrow is expected to have a lower track temperature, so I think the soft tyres will be a better choice. In terms of long runs, Liam and I split the cars, as he was on mediums and I was on softs, which is a good trial to understand what is worth more. Overall, though, it was a bit of a lottery out there due to the wind. We looked quite stable, even if you never know what to expect when facing a corner, whether gaining or losing time, but it’s the same for everyone, and we adapt.”

Liam Lawson - FP1: 1:27.351, P8; FP2: 1:05.624, P10

“It’s a solid start to the weekend, it’s been very close on track, similar to last weekend. We need to keep chasing just like everyone else, but it’s a good starting place. We’ve been making small changes between sessions and fine-tuning the setup. The wind is really gusty right now and it’s throwing off the balance, but the car feels incredibly quick. It’s my first time driving here in a Formula One car, and it’s an amazing experience. Hopefully, we can have another strong practice session and put ourselves in a good position to fight for Q3 tomorrow."

Alan Permane, Racing Director

“A positive start to the weekend; both in FP1 and FP2 the drivers were generally happy with their cars, especially in the very high-speed corners here. The car is working well, but we’ve got a little bit of work to do in the low speed in terms of improving the balance, for both single lap and long run pace. We will run some simulations overnight and I’m confident we can improve for FP3. We evaluated both the medium and the soft tyre for the race and we’ll crunch the numbers to develop further our race strategy for Sunday.”

Aston Martin

Alonso had the upgraded package in FP1, with the team keen to benchmark it against the older spec parts on Stroll’s car. That meant plenty of back-to-back running for those two, with the only major moment of note a spin for Stroll early on in the session. The team then bolted the upgrades onto the Canadian’s car in FP2 and he put them to good use, winding up solidly in the top 10 on his flying run. Alonso was not too much further back, but in such a competitive midfield, Aston Martin could do with a few more tenths if they want to flirt with the top 10 in Qualifying.

Fernando Alonso - FP1: 1:27.678, P11; FP2: 1:26.876, P12

"It's difficult to read where we are after today's Practice. In FP1 it didn't look too different between the two packages, but let's see if we learnt something more from FP2 as we tried some different things with the set-up.

"It was a very typical Friday around Silverstone with how windy it was. There are a lot of things to analyse, but it was a clean day and let's see what we can do tomorrow."

Lance Stroll - FP1: 1:27.844, P12; FP2: 1:26.430, P7

"Silverstone is a great track and I always love coming back here. It's a special race for the team, as we're just steps away from the factory. The support we get here every year and the energy around the weekend are special.

"I've got some good laps in today during FP2 and the car felt decent, but it's early days so we'll go through the data. We'll see what we can work on tonight and come back tomorrow."

Williams

Williams ran a different programme to the rest out there, opting for higher fuel runs on the hard compound tyre for most of the first session. Albon and Sainz came out very late on the softs, with the former landing in the top 10 which at least gives the team some heart heading into the weekend. They went backwards in FP2 though, literally for Sainz who suffered a slow-speed spin midway through the session. He nearly collected Hamilton as he spun, and then Hulkenberg as he got himself righted – with the stewards taking a look at the incident, and giving the Spaniard a warning.

Alex Albon - FP1: 1:27.304, P7; FP2: 1:26.840, P11

"It was very windy and generally tricky out there today. Not quite the pace we wanted, but we need to figure out how to make the car more driveable and come back stronger tomorrow. It's always tricky with wind because you are facing oversteer and understeer at every corner and, being so exposed at Silverstone, it's hard to know where to pitch the car because no corner feels good; it's just trying to find the most consistent balance throughout the lap. We made some good changes ahead of FP2, and I think we're heading in the right direction for Qualifying tomorrow."

Carlos Sainz - FP1: 1:27.909, P13; FP2: 1:27.159, P16

"A tough day with windy conditions. It made it tricky to be consistent throughout the session, but we managed to complete a full programme focused on improving our reliability issues. We collected some good data which will hopefully allow us to focus more on performance in FP3. It will be interesting to see how the weather impacts us with cooler temperatures and high winds, so I’m looking forward to what Qualifying brings tomorrow."

Kick Sauber

Aron ran in Hulkenberg’s car in FP1 and had a clean session for the team, which is what was asked for, although he did have one tricky bit of traffic to negotiate. Bortoleto was the one who gave the team a bit of a scare, another spinner through Copse. The Brazilian’s moment was so fast, he managed two full rotations. The team were again forced to watch a tense moment in FP2, as Hulkenberg came across a stricken Williams – the German luckily going slowly enough to avoid being collected by Sainz. It was a steady opening bar that for Hulkenberg, with Bortoleto looking very confident after his Friday running.

Nico Hulkenberg - FP2: 1:27.165, P17

"It was quite an unusual Friday for me, getting a feel both inside and outside the car. The conditions were very windy and gusty—it didn’t feel fantastic, but it was the same for everyone. I was quite happy with the feeling I had straight away in FP2. All things considered, it was a solid session and a good foundation for us to build on. Now it’s heads down, full focus, and time to keep pushing."

Gabriel Bortoleto - FP1: 1:28.397, P20; FP2: 1:26.904, P13

“Today was a positive day overall. We focused on understanding the balance of the car, and I was pleased with the direction we’re heading. Driving at Silverstone in a Formula One car is so enjoyable – it's such a rewarding track. That said, the conditions made things quite challenging. The wind gusts were strong and unpredictable, with a lot of tailwind in several sections, which made it tough to get the car properly settled. We’ll spend the evening fine-tuning a few areas to improve the setup, and we’ll look at what we can do better for tomorrow.”

Paul Aron - FP2: 1:28.142, P17

“Running with the team in FP1 was amazing. First of all, I want to give a massive thank you to Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber and to Alpine. It’s not often that two competitor teams allow a driver to have this kind of opportunity, and I’m truly grateful to both for making it happen. I felt I got up to speed much quicker than expected, and it was fantastic to be at a Formula One weekend knowing I would be driving: I haven’t felt that kind of adrenaline all year, not since I stopped racing in Formula 2.

“I was happy to complete my full run plan and contribute to the team’s work this weekend. In the end, I got a run on soft tyres and that was a very satisfying moment. I am proud I could provide useful data, and I feel this session benefited both parties. Any mileage in a Formula One car is valuable, especially for a young driver like me who is trying to make it onto the grid: of course, there’s pressure, but that’s part of what makes this level so special. After seeing how tricky the conditions were for all drivers out there, I reminded myself that rule number one in an FP1 session is not to damage the car. I’ve only had one day in the simulator with this car, so I focused on executing my plan and staying sharp.”

Haas

Ocon spent a chunk of FP1 in the garage with what sounded like a cracked brake pedal. He did manage to get out for a lap on the softs though, with Haas not lighting up the leaderboard just yet. The Frenchman managed far more running in FP2, and moved up the order accordingly. Bearman was the one to struggle in the second session, winding up down the order on home soil. Qualifying is the team’s Achilles’ heel, so we will have to wait for tomorrow to see if their upgrades have addressed any of their one-lap issues.

Esteban Ocon – FP1: 1:28.057, P15; FP2: 1:26.941, P14

“It was an interesting day out there. We’ve changed the car quite a bit, we’ve got some new parts, so it was about trying to understand it and optimise the day. It was quite windy out there so difficult to read into things, and it might be very different again tomorrow. We need to try and find a bit more performance but it’s only Friday – it doesn’t tell the whole picture. Let’s see if we can squeeze a bit more out of it.”

Oliver Bearman - FP1: 1:28.147, P18; FP2: 1:27.226, P19

“Esteban had the new package on this morning, and it performed as we expected, so this afternoon we also put it on. With the changes that made to car balance, I just don’t think we were up to speed because I had quite a lot of understeer out there. I think it’s a good sign though, it shows the change we made is doing the correct thing, but we need to make a few adjustments now to account for that and balance the car. Rain is on our radar and could change things, it’s always a feature of this weekend, but generally our Saturday pace is always a bit better than Friday so I hope with a few tweaks we can be fighting up there tomorrow. Even if it’s been a challenging day, I’ve been in high spirits with a beaming smile – it's a pleasure to drive this track firstly, but to have the fans supporting like they do is a very special feeling.”

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal

“It was a busy Friday, but at least we got through the program. Esteban ran the new package for the whole day, and it seems like it’s doing what it’s supposed to be doing, whereas Ollie started with the baseline and moved to the updated package for FP2. We’re still looking at the data, but we do see improvements, we just need to get a bit more out of it. We’ve got a bit more to learn about the car, both low-fuel and high-fuel, but it was a decent day – now we’ll work tonight to get into a better position for Qualifying and the race.”

Alpine

Alpine expected to struggle at this race, and the French team was not helped by a high-speed spin from Gasly in FP1. He was lucky to get away with the moment, bar for one set of flat-spotted tyres. The Frenchman was the last to bolt on the softs in FP2, but could not take advantage of a fully rubbered in track, only managing P18. With Colapinto P20 and struggling to get to grips with the demanding track, Alpine have plenty of work to do overnight if they want to avoid a double Q1 exit come Qualifying.

Pierre Gasly - FP1: 1:28.332, P19; FP2: 1:27.174, P18

“It has been a very difficult Friday for us. As a team we will work hard together as we have some things we need to fix and we need to find some solutions to unlock more performance. We have a clear idea of where we are struggling, mainly in the high speed and lacking grip. It does not feel like anything we have had all season but I know we will dig through it all and aim to find the fixes. We are aiming for a better day tomorrow and I know we can do that with our eyes firmly focused on Qualifying as well as we can.”

Franco Colapinto - FP1: 1:28.086, P16; FP2: 1:27.289, P20

“It was not the easiest of days on track today and we need to find a way to extract more performance from the car. Generally, it was a better Friday for me than in previous races and the car itself is looking okay at this stage, it is just the consistency we are lacking. It felt strong in some parts of the lap and worse in others, which is a bit of a recurring theme so far in terms of the driveability. I am sure we can find some solutions to make it better at this track and in these type of conditions, but we know that can also change quickly here across the weekend.”

Pirelli

Simone Berra, Pirelli Chief Engineer

“Silverstone is one of the toughest tracks on the calendar as far as the tyres are concerned, not only because of the lateral forces to which they are subjected in the many high speed corners, but also in terms of wear. We got a taste of that in today’s two hours of free practice, especially in the second session. What this means first and foremost is that a one-stop strategy, although possible, is rather marginal.

“We saw that the performance delta between the Soft and the Medium is slightly bigger than our earlier simulations, stabilising around the half second mark. Graining made an appearance, especially on the Soft and Medium and we believe this could also be the case on Sunday during the race, given that temperatures are expected to be lower than today’s."