REPORT: Friday Practice at Silverstone

The team have plenty of data to pore over after an important day of Friday practice running at the British Grand Prix.

Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz began the day with race simulation work on the Hard tyre, gathering valuable data following a challenging few rounds.

Towards the end of the opening hour, they switched to the Softs, with Alex posting a 1:27.304 to go P7, while Carlos set a 1:27.909 to finish P13.

In FP2, track temperatures peaked – likely the highest we’ll see all weekend – and gusty conditions added another variable. The pair started on Mediums before moving onto the Softs. Alex’s 1:26.840 placed him P11, with Carlos ending the session in P16 after a best time of 1:27.159.

"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," Alex shared after Practice.

"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 added: "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."