British GP – post qualifying update

01.08.20

p20

1m27.705s

For Saturday’s sessions we made a lot of changes to the car to try and get a better feeling around Silverstone.

On Friday we tested a few things, and learned what worked and what didn’t. Straightaway in FP3 the car felt better – more beneath me. I found a good rhythm and was far more competitive.

I felt confident heading to qualifying, but the outcome was a bit of a shame. The first run was not too bad, but I knew a better lap time was possible.

I was struggling through the first few corners, where the strong winds were really noticeable, and I could never get the rhythm just right. But even with that, I thought if I could make the gains I was capable of, and the car was capable of, there was the chance of being on the cusp of Q2 – or even making it through.

On the second run I got a bit too greedy on the throttle exiting Luffield and spun; I was a little aggressive so we’ll just chalk it down to experience. Lewis Hamilton did the same thing in the session, so I was in good company…

Nonetheless the potential was clearly there. Prior to the weekend, we had some doubts over the car’s ability at Silverstone, and today we showed that it’s capable of making it through to Q2.

It’s time to focus on the race now, but it’s good to know I’ll be back here next weekend to put things right in qualifying…