In the round-up: AlphaTauri driver Yuki Tsunoda says that his team have not seen much benefit so far from their raft of upgrades for this weekend
In brief
AlphaTauri “struggling” despite major upgrades – Tsunoda
AlphaTauri have brought more upgraded parts to their car for the British Grand Prix this weekend than any other team. However, Tsunoda and team mate Nyck de Vries sat near the very bottom of the times at the end of the second practice session, in 18th and 19th, respectively.
“We brought a lot of new parts,” Tsunoda said after practice. “Hopefully that all works for us.
“So far we can’t see in the results that we’re improving massively. We ended up in the bottom places. So we have to see deeply what we can improve but so far we’re struggling a little bit.”
Mercedes reprimanded for Hamilton’s lateness
Mercedes have been handed a team reprimand after Lewis Hamilton was late to the FIA’s driver press conference on Thursday.Hamilton was due to attend the first of two conferences alongside Charles Leclerc, Esteban Ocon, Alexander Albon and Yuki Tsunoda, but joined his fellow drivers two minutes after it had begun.
A Mercedes representative was summoned by the stewards to discuss Hamilton’s lateness. The stewards acknowledged that as Hamilton is very popular in the paddock of his home grand prix and is swarmed by fans as a result, Mercedes should be held responsible, and handed the team a reprimand as a result.
Martins takes second successive F2 feature pole
Formula 2’s qualifying was suspended for a considerable time after a heavy crash for Amaury Cordeel at Copse. That resulted in the session being shortened, giving drivers less than ten minutes for their final runs.
Victor Martins sat on provisional pole in the early part of the session with Richard Verschoor second and Theo Pourchaire third. Multiple drivers improved on their final laps, but when the chequered flag flew Martins had managed to beat his own provisional pole time and secure his third feature race pole of the season and second in a row.
Kush Maini secured his first F2 front row start in second, with Ayumu Iwasa qualifying third. Championship leader Frederik Vesti stopped on track during the session with a problem, but will start today’s sprint race from pole position on the partially reversed grid.
Fornaroli heads all-Trident F3 front row
Leonardo Fornaroli will lead an all-Trident front row for Sunday’s F3 feature race at Silverstone ahead of team mate Oliver Goethe after the pair were quickest in qualifying.
Prema driver Paul Aron led the running in the early phase of the session, until Fornaroli and Franco Colapinto improved into the top two places. Aron moved into second, just over two tenths behind Fornaroli.
Fornaroli improved his own fastest time at the chequered flag to secure his first pole in F3, with Oliver Goethe jumping to second. Campos pair Josep Maria Marti and Christian Mansell claimed the second row.
Pole position for this morning’s sprint race, which uses a partially reversed grid, went to Sebastian Montoya.
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
‘I love driving to the limit’: Verstappen and Red Bull strive for perfection (CNN)
'I think we can win this weekend. Going unbeaten a whole season will be very difficult. I always believe in myself. I think that’s important, that’s the most important, and I believe in the car. I believe in the team, I believe in all the people involved, you know, building this car. So I think we have a good shot at it.'
Hamilton and Mercedes have to tough it out – 2026 could play into their hands (Telegraph)
'Toto has in turn suggested that Red Bull are trying to change the agreement to which they all signed up and which has been key in attracting new big names to the sport, such as Audi who will gradually buy into Alfa Romeo over the next few seasons, adding that Horner is objecting only because he is worried about how to find the performance needed to stay on top. Wishful thinking? Perhaps. But when you factor in that Red Bull have had to go it alone with their power-unit plans after Honda pulled out (before promptly announcing they would be joining Aston Martin) perhaps Toto is right and Red Bull really are worried.'
BBC’s Jennie Gow returns after stroke and emotional chat leaves Hamilton ‘so happy’ (Daily Star)
'The Southampton-born presenter, who is currently BBC News’ Formula One correspondent and presents BBC Radio 5 Live’s F1 coverage, was forced to take a break for several months as she learned to talk and walk again. But Gow made an incredible return to the Silverstone paddock ahead of the British Grand Prix this week for an emotional sit down interview with seven-time world champion Hamilton on BBC Radio 5.'
Sainz and Leclerc must be allowed to fight. I'll explain why... (Giancarlo Minardi)
'The drivers themselves must work together in this direction. In the ladder Carlos Sainz is ahead of Charles Leclerc but both cannot aspire to any trophy. For this reason, they should be free to fight it out on the track, having as sole objective the most points for the team.'
F1 star Bottas takes delivery of Mercedes-AMG One (Drive)
'The Mercedes-AMG One is powered by a 782kW 1.6-litre turbocharged V6 engine and hybrid system from the company's championship-winning Formula One race cars, which Bottas raced between 2017 and 2021 – taking victory in 10 races, which included the 2019 Australian Grand Prix.'
'No reason' why women can’t compete in F1, says major study (Top Gear)
''Based on the research we have done there is no reason why a woman cannot compete. This is one of the beauties of the sport, that a man and woman can compete on equal grounds. I believe there will be a woman in F1 in the future and I hope we can make that happen very soon.''
Maloney and Hauger penalised after Silverstone Qualifying (Formula 2)
'Zane Maloney has received two separate three-place grid penalties. The two penalties drop Maloney from 4th to 10th on the grid for Saturday's race. MP Motorsport's Dennis Hauger has also been given a grid penalty following qualifying. During the session, double waved yellow flags were displayed at turn four. Hauger was found to have not aborted his push lap, contravening the FIA Sporting Code.'
Motorsport's most relevant series is Formula E (Jalopnik)
'While a 12-mile range increase may not sound impressive, that’s still a significant increase to obtain solely from racing-derived software upgrades alone. Motorsport, after all, is a competition of finite margins and incremental boosts — and that technology’s appearance on a road car that any of us can buy is a true rarity these days. Tune into Formula E; there’s a good chance the software in your next car is already going through its paces.'
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
23yrs ago @williamsracing let me loose at my home GP in the FW22 where I finished P5. This year I’ll be jumping in @nigelmansell Championship Winning 14B for a few laps Sunday before the GP🥰 happy days. 🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/XDO3dOgg25
— Jenson Button (@JensonButton) July 7, 2023
We’re bringing upgrades in the following areas at Silverstone this weekend ⤵️
▫️Suspension fairings
▫️Front brake duct
▫️Lower rear wingTechnical Director Simone Resta has all the info!#HaasF1 #BritishGP pic.twitter.com/BEjNuMwG2A
— MoneyGram Haas F1 Team (@HaasF1Team) July 7, 2023
Episode 2 – FIA Insights: Formula 1 start lights explained 🚥#FIA #F1 #FIAInsights #Formula1 @F1 pic.twitter.com/DkX6vApp6L
— FIA (@fia) July 7, 2023
𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐄 is out now!!!👾
Huge thanks to everyone who has helped me out on this and supported me! 🙏🏼
Let me know what you think 🫶🏼#shwartzy #levelup #active pic.twitter.com/tEAmTZUKAi
— Robert Shwartzman (@ShwartzmanRob) July 7, 2023
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- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
After neither Mercedes driver ended up in the top ten in either Friday practice session at Silverstone, reader XV says Mercedes will be eyeing up APX GP’s veteran driver…
Sonny Hayes would have put that Mercedes in the top 10.
XV
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Ev!
Bob
8th July 2023, 2:34
F2 top 10 within two tenths (+2 hundredths).
Jere (@jerejj)
8th July 2023, 5:50
Reprimanding for something as harmless or trivial as press conference lateness is such a priority for FIA.
SjaakFoo (@sjaakfoo)
8th July 2023, 7:24
It is not trivial for the press in attendance, especially those of them that don’t get the privilege of one-on-one interviews and paddock shows like Sky does, I would imagine. The press moments are as such mandatory to attend, it’s part of the job.
MichaelN
8th July 2023, 8:50
Without the attention, nobody in F1 would be rich. It’s part of the game.
Red Andy (@red-andy)
8th July 2023, 7:14
Apparently Jenson Button has changed his mind and will be doing demo runs in a BAR instead.
MichaelN
8th July 2023, 8:57
The software update in the Formula E article is somewhat reminiscent of that infamous “Acceleration Increase On-Demand upgrade” Mercedes offers its US customers… if they subscribe for hundreds of dollars a year to unlock features already available in their cars.