Silverstone - 08 Lug 2016 18:28 UTC

COOL CONDITIONS IN THE MORNING, WARMER IN THE AFTERNOON FOR FREE PRACTICE – BUT MORE MIXED WEATHER TO COME

ONCE MORE, 2015 POLE POSITION TIME BEATEN ALREADY IN FP1

The two free practice sessions in Silverstone were in marked contrast: cool and overcast conditions in the morning with a threat of rain followed by warm and dry conditions in the afternoon, with air and track temperatures peaking at 22 and 35 degrees centigrade respectively.

This allowed drivers to try all three tyres nominated for Silverstone – hard, medium and soft – in a wide variety of conditions, gathering an ample range of data with different fuel loads on each compound. As the weather forecast for the weekend remains uncertain, this will provide extremely useful information prior to the race.

Continuing a recurrent theme this year, last season’s pole position time was already comprehensively beaten in FP1, underlining how much quicker the cars have become since 2015.

The lateral energy loads going through the tyres at Silverstone, with its long sweeping corners, is among the highest all year.

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time of the day in FP1 on the medium tyre, which is expected to be a favoured race tyre, before concentrating on longer runs using the soft in the afternoon.

Paul Hembery, Pirelli motorsport director: “Silverstone has been at its spectacular high-speed best today, with last year’s pole position time already beaten in FP1, despite the fact that the circuit was comparatively ‘green’. With rain forecast for FP3 tomorrow, and possibly even for qualifying too, today’s sessions are likely to be very relevant for the race on Sunday – although there’s a chance of mixed conditions at the grand prix itself as well. Obviously all the drivers were running different fuel loads today, which makes direct comparisons quite tricky, but in isolation we’re seeing half a second separating the hard and medium compounds for now in terms of performance, plus 1.7 seconds between medium and soft: so just over two seconds covering the whole range here from hard to soft.”

FP1 – TIMES			FP2 – TIMES
1. Hamilton	1m31.654s	Medium new	1. Hamilton	1m31.660s	Soft new
2. Rosberg	1m31.687s	Medium new	2. Ricciardo	1m32.051s	Soft new
3. Hulkenberg	1m32.492s	Soft used	3. Verstappen	1m32.296s	Soft new

FP1 – BEST TIME PER COMPOUND

Hard		Verstappen	1m33.202s
Medium		Hamilton	1m31.654s
Soft		Hulkenberg	1m32.492s

FP2 – BEST TIME PER COMPOUND

Hard		Raikkonen	1m34.374s
Medium		Hamilton	1m33.505s
Soft		Hamilton	1m31.660s

MOST LAPS BY COMPOUND

Hard		Perez	14 laps
Medium		Palmer	25
Soft		Raikkonen	16

Tyre statistics of the day:

	Hard	Medium	Soft
kms driven *	694	4558	2402
sets used overall **	11	48	30
highest number of laps **	20	34	23

* The above number gives the total amount of kilometres driven in FP1 and FP2 today, all drivers combined. ** Per compound, all drivers combined.

Minimum prescribed tyre pressures: 23 psi (fronts) 21.5 psi (rears)

Pirelli fact of the day: Pirelli’s presence in the UK is one of the oldest outside of Italy. In 1909, Pirelli Limited was formed in Britain: only 37 years after Giovanni Battista Pirelli founded the company in 1872. Pirelli’s first British factory was opened in 1929, making not just tyres but also bedroom slippers – which were added to the UK’s product range in 1934.

Spotted in the paddock: Nigel Mansell. ‘Il Leone’ has a cult following at a grand prix he made his own – having set seven fastest laps in 11 participations. This year, he’s here as a driver steward.

For more information: please visit our all-new website, which is regularly updated with exclusive in-depth features, news and reviews. To find out more, please visit: www.pirelli.com/global/en-ww/great-britain-2016-practice