70th Anniversary GP – post qualifying update

08.08.20

p18

1m28.430s

Staying at Silverstone for a second race is an advantage in terms of getting straight into a rhythm on Friday – but overnight the wind direction shifted 180 degrees, so today it felt like driving a new car!

Nonetheless, in final practice I got on top of it pretty quickly. I adapted, and put in some good laps. The target was to aim for a position in Q2.

Heading into Q1 I was expecting a similar feeling from the car, but unfortunately for one reason or another it was more unpredictable to drive. When I expected a bit of oversteer I got a lot of it, and it was the same story with understeer.

When everything is on the limit, it only takes a little thing to throw you off-line – and start a chain reaction going into the next corner. I wasn’t happy with either of my push laps in Q1. There were a few big moments on the first, while the second just felt very, very average.

One positive is that I know I’m nowhere near my limit. I just have to work on understanding how to get the best out of the car when it isn’t 100 per cent in the window I need. A lot of that will come with experience.

Looking ahead to the race, Pirelli has moved softer with the compound choices so I think a one-stop will be difficult. More stops might introduce more variables, which is good for us.

I got some more experience last weekend, particularly in terms of actually racing close rivals, so if I can build on that then I’ll be in a good place. The goal, as always, is to keep making progress and moving forward.