Red Bull continues their respective brilliant and bad runs:
(Motorsports news) Verstappen’s win at Silverstone outstretched Red Bull’s victory streak of 11 in F1 race, all of the 2023 events so far plus Abu Dhabi last year. This equals the record set by McLaren in 1988, while Verstappen’s current run extends to six, which means he can equal Sebastian Vettel’s nine in row drivers record for Red Bull itself at his home race at Zandvoort if he keeps this up.
On the other hand, Sergio Perez finished sixth in the F1 race at Silverstone, the Mexican blamed his long wait in the pitlane for Q1’s resumption as the reason for his exit in that qualifying segment and latest recovery drive. He climbed the order well in the race and wasn’t at fault for the contact that broke Hulkenberg’s front wing. But it was still lacklustre overall.
Lando Norris stars as McLaren turns the corner on its 2023 F1 car:
The crowd absolutely roared when Lando Norris attained a lead having stepped on the podium with an outstanding second. Verstappen hadn’t reacted badly, but post-launch wheelspin slowed his progress and quick as a flash the McLaren was by. It didn’t stay in front, but there’s no shame in that versus Verstappen’s Red Bull.
What was seriously impressive was how the McLaren genuinely was Red Bull’s closest threat here – dropping the Ferraris in the first stint and Norris repelling Hamilton’s post-safety car. Only the unfortunate pre-safety car stop for Piastri prevented a double podium.
Piastri proves McLaren was right to fight for his services:
Oscar Piastri missed out on a podium through sheer bad luck due to stopping the pre-safety car, but Oscar Piastri had already delivered a starring drive with his third place in qualifying. It may not have formed the home-crowd cheers that accompanied team-mate Norris crossing the line just ahead, but Piastri’s Q3 finale was sublime.
After qualifying, Stella was asked if Piastri’s effort there was the assurance the team had made the right choice in pushing to replace Daniel Ricciardo, even going to court over Piastri’s services in the contract wrangling with Alpine last summer.
F1 engine information riddles are steering your way:
The F1 press corps got an unusual invitation on Saturday morning of the Silverstone weekend – head to the press conference room for a ‘Power Unit Manufacturer Media Presentation’.
F1’s “most authentic film” has all the kit to achieve its aim:
Joseph Kosinski, director of the as-yet-unnamed upcoming F1 film, describing reporters at the Austrian GP that the Apple project would be the “most authentic” film ever made about grand prix racing, things were finally revealed at Silverstone.
The Mercedes-adapted Formula 2 cars were on track capturing driving shots in front of the 480,000-strong crowd. The fictional team for which Brad Pitt and Damson Idris will be racing was disclosed as ‘APXGP’. And the squad assembled on the pre-race grid and then toured down it while the rest removed away. Its pit set-up was so immaculate and detailed that Ferrari squad boss Fred Vasseur noted it was “even better than some teams” competing for real.
Alex Albon is gathering up from where George Russell left off at Williams:
When Alex Albon first signed up to drive for Williams as his F1 debut, it was evident that he would need to shake off the difficulties he’d faced in the Red Bull pressure cooker when he was demoted to reserve driver having failed to match Max Verstappen over the 2020 season.
It’s only fitting that we toot our own horn and believe that prediction, as Albon has absolved himself well as a team leader over the past season and a half. This season’s heroics are proving as such, and the Anglo-Thai racer is making the most of every possibility when Williams has the car in F1 to potentially score points.
Mercedes finds a strong race rate in spite of Diva 2.0:
After the initial glimmers of hope presented to Mercedes by its heavily revised W14, the upgrades have not proven enough to counter the developments made by the teams around it on the grid. To its surprise, the recent progress made by McLaren has put the Woking team above Mercedes in the most recent pair of races: Austria and Silverstone underlined the papaya cars’ leap forward from the midfield.
“I always believe that we can beat Max. We have a good group of people and the best drivers,” said Toto Wolff. “We just have to give them a car that is more predictable and not the Diva 2.0 and much more complex than the first one,” concluded Toto.
Ferrari’s hero couldn’t step up on the previous performance and slipped down in the British GP:
F1 Free-Practice suggested that the Scuderia Ferarri would be able to resume its Red Bull Ring form and challenge for a front-row start, but Leclerc couldn’t quite string his final qualifying lap together and had to be pleased with fourth on the grid. Carlos Sainz followed him in fifth, but the weekend still pledged good points.
In the race, however, something went amiss. Leclerc was noticeably slower than the chasing Russell but the Mercedes’ top-end performance hindered the possibility of a potential overtake prior to their stops. After they’d collected fresh tyres, Russell breezed past the Charles Leclerc on the outside of Luffield and contained another position.
Pirelli’s new tyre construction up to the task:
Pirelli, owing to the rapidly escalating performance of the 2023 F1 cars and their expanded downforce output, tyre supplier it had two options to react: either increase the minimum pressures or introduce a more robust construction. Increasing the mandatory pressures is a perfectly workable solution, but often causes consternation with the drivers as the reduced grip on offer makes the cars more difficult to handle.
Therefore, the Italian tyre manufacturer instead brought new development to Silverstone, using new materials within the structural layers without any difference to the overall compound.
Aston Martin’s form is shrinking, meanwhile Fernando Alonso’s keen not to “stress”:
Aston Martin seemed to have at best the fifth-fastest car in the British Grand Prix. Despite efforts in Canada to bring upgrades to broaden the working capacity of its car, the Silverstone squad doesn’t seem to have made quite the same performance gains compared to its rival teams at the sharp end.
Fernando Alonso said that it was crucial not to “stress” too much about the current lack of form, given the gains that the team made over the winter. To be honest, I’m not too stressed about the consequence,” he explained after the F1 British Grand Prix. “The car is better than expected this year. We are fighting for things that we could presumably never dream of at the beginning of the year.
