In the round-up: Max Verstappen said his car “looked better and also felt better” in practice at Silverstone.
What they say
Verstappen was encouraged by the balance of his Red Bull in practice:
It was not a bad day for us. I think the car is working a bit better so I’m happy with that. Of course I think you can still improve so we’ll work on that.
But I think also on the long run it was looking quite decent. So overall a positive day.
We just keep trying parts on the car, we keep bringing new bits. It seems like they are working so I’m happy with that.
Quotes: Dieter Rencken
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
the last 24 hours.. 🤠#hulkenback #f1 pic.twitter.com/DHEll1adBT
— Nico Hülkenberg (@HulkHulkenberg) July 31, 2020
In @FIAFormula3 today there was another case of a lap time being deleted for a track limits violation, then later reinstated. This one promoted Alex Peroni from 18th to sixth on the grid. How long until we see something similar happen in @F1?https://t.co/vNDT1zKcBw#F1
— Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) July 31, 2020
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Links
More motor racing links of interest:
Guenther Steiner: "We’re still lacking speed – which we knew coming here. We’ll be a little bit on our backfoot here at Silverstone, that became a little more evident in second practice obviously."
Drugovich takes maiden F2 pole ahead of Ilott at Silverstone (F2)
"Rookie Felipe Drugovich’s incredible start to life in Formula 2 continued in Silverstone as he took his, and MP Motorsport’s, first ever pole position in the Championship. In the four rounds of the season so far, the Brazilian has transformed himself from an unlikely underdog, to a Championship contender, and beat out home hero Callum Ilott for first by 0.139s."
Sargeant beats Lawson to maiden F3 pole in Silverstone (F3)
"Lawson was knocked off provisional pole by Sargeant, who set a time of 1'46.257, while Piastri had to settle for third place. Fewtrell found enough on his final lap for fourth, ahead of Vesti in fifth."
Mixed fortunes on Friday (Ferrari)
"There was a time when there were maybe six or seven German drivers around, so it’s nice that I’m not the only one! It’s good for Nico (Hulkenberg) but for sure we also hope Sergio (Perez) gets better soon."
"Tyre temperatures were quite an issue as it was very easy to overheat them, particularly with the very high pressures we have to run here, so the car was operating in a very different area compared to the previous events, where the temperature was cooler and the pressure was lower."
British GP practice (Williams)
"Compared to Hungary we thought that we might struggle a little more here, but we made decent progress today and we are a bit closer to our competitors than we feared."
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Comment of the day
@Sebsronnie is pleased to see Nico Hulkenberg back in F1:
Not sure why this appointment made me so happy but it sure did. A podium would probably send me into a frenzy.
@Sebsronnie
Happy birthday!
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DaveF1 (@davef1)
1st August 2020, 0:09
I wonder if todays events will make Hulkenberg the de facto stand in should another driver get covid?
If his contract with Racing Point is only for the next 2 events then surely he’d be the best possible driver available for any team should a similar situation arise. While I really hope we get no more positive cases all round, I wonder if the likes of Mercedes, Red Bull or Ferrari – which all have contracted drivers racing for other F1 teams – would consider keeping tabs on Hulkenberg instead of promoting one of their own.
Jake
1st August 2020, 1:14
Agreed. Hulk is easily the safest bet if a team needs a stand-in. He was in F1 as recently as last year, so there isn’t much he needs to do in order to get up to speed other than just getting used to how the car feels on track. The teams wouldn’t want to call up an F2 driver who has very limited, if any, experience in an F1 car midseason. And I highly doubt a top team would demand one of their junior drivers move up to them if they’re in F1 already. I can’t imagine Mercedes telling Williams to give up George Russell for the time being if Hamilton or Bottas test positive. As nice as it would be to see George get a chance in a Merc, it would leave Williams scrambling. Only team that may do that is Red Bull since they’re willing to do it even in normal times.
Robert
1st August 2020, 3:20
It’s purely my speculation, but I think if Mercedes need a replacement for a race or maybe two, Russel is the obvious choice. From Mercedes perspective, he is one of their juniors, he has driven their cars in practice and done well, and he is in the loop and totally up to speed by now. Williams would be glad to see Russel do ok in a top car, which I think he would. Sure, they wouldn’t want to let him go for the rest of the season, but a chance to get some headlines around their star driver and further cement their good relations with Mercedes could only be positive for them.
Aapje (@aapje)
1st August 2020, 10:31
That seems like a good choice to be able to evaluate Russel’s ability in a top car, in an actual race.
bookgrub (@bookgrub)
1st August 2020, 15:10
More importantly, a chance to get a big stack of cash from Mercedes.
sumedh
1st August 2020, 9:13
Has anyone realized the symmetry:
2018: Checo forces Ocon out of Racing Point (and F1) by taking legal action
2019: Ocon replaces Hulk (and F1) at Renault
2020: Hulk replaces Checo (and F1, tempoerarily) as Checo contracts COVID-19
Witan
1st August 2020, 9:54
Williams still talking up no progress as real progress. Is the sale not going well? Williams behaving with buyers as if they are doing them a favour, perhaps?
sebsronnie (@sebsronnie)
1st August 2020, 12:17
Thanks @keithcollantine for the comment of the day. My very first ever since I started following this site (shortly after it started many years ago).
Nick
1st August 2020, 12:34
I’d like to see them just change the tracks so track limit penalties are impossible. They need to have a small strip of low grip material beyond the limit of the track so the car loses grip when the tyre touches it. It only needs to be a meter wide.
This is not an original comment.
It’s just so much simpler than having a group of stewards watching a load of video replays.