Mercedes arrived at Silverstone with new parts in its car, including a new floorboard, as the team hopes to move up the grid. Lewis Hamilton finished TL2 in second place, his best result in a practice session this season, but he still reports pitting.
Mercedes arrived at Silverstone with new parts in its car, including a new floorboard, as the team hopes to move up the grid. Lewis Hamilton finished TL2 in second place, his best result in a practice session this season, but he still reports pitting.
On the smooth Silverstone circuit, the Mercedes car seemed to attack the corners better. Engineer Andrew Shovlin explained how Mercedes is much closer to Ferrari and Red Bull when it comes to race and lap times, but Hamilton knows there is more work to do.
"It was a good day. I wish we had more laps in TL1, but this beautiful weather here at Silverstone makes it so special because it can rain in one corner and be dry in another," Hamilton told Sky Sports.
"It was wet in turns 6/7 up to turn 9, but it was dry everywhere else. You couldn't take the intermediate (tires) off, it was too wet for slicks. TL2 was good. It's still bouncing, a little bit. Not necessarily on the straights, but in the corners it is hard. Not physically hard but just in the car," he continued.
"There's still work to do, but it feels like a little bit of progress. You just can't drive on the tracks the same way with this car, how stiff it is and the clicking. Most of the clicking is because of the stiffness of the car," commented the Mercedes driver.
"The upgrades had nothing to do with the floorboard, it's just downforce. Hard to feel that coming from a different circuit. Low downforce to high downforce," Hamilton concluded.