Bridgestone’s medium compound Potenza was the tyre which allowed Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen to set the fastest time in practice today for the British Grand Prix, with a time just four tenths off last year’s pole setting pace.
Strong winds at the British circuit provided an added challenge to teams and drivers as they attempted to find the best chassis set-ups for Bridgestone’s hard and medium compound Potenzas, which are in use this weekend. Grey skies threatened rain all day, but the wet and extreme wet Bridgestone Potenza tyres did not come into play. The hard compound was used almost exclusively in the morning session, except for the last few minutes. The afternoon session saw extensive use of both compounds.
Although Silverstone was the venue for a recent test for nine of the eleven F1 teams, very little tyre evaluation was undertaken at this test due to inclement weather and mechanical issues, so teams were still learning how both compounds react at this circuit today. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren Mercedes) set the fastest time in the morning session with a 1min 21.100secs. This time was set on the hard compound Bridgestones, illustrating that for today at least, the quicker of the two tyres for each driver is yet to be determined.
Kees van de Grint, Bridgestone Motorsport Head of Track Engineering Operations said: “The weather played a major factor today making data collection difficult. Strong winds made a tough task for drivers and the ‘green’ track meant we were not able to gather good data. However, considering these conditions, the hard compound Bridgestone Potenza provided consistent performance with the medium compound providing more grip. The grip advantage does not necessarily translate into quicker lap times, mainly because of the higher amount of graining with the medium compound on the green track. Today’s fastest lap time was four tenths off last year’s pole, so I am confident we have made the correct tyre choice. ”
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