McLaren hit first

Lando Norris and McLaren They want revenge Verstappen at his house, at British GP. Although Landau did not show the expected toughness at a press conference on Thursday and toned down the tone of his speech then Maxon the track the English came out determined to change things. He led the first free practice sessions in the morning and did so again in the afternoon ahead of his teammate Oscar Piastri. McLaren did double in FP2but as everyone knows, it will be little if next in qualifying and in the race Lando Norris and McLaren do not finish the job against a Max that at this moment, as in the last Grands Prix, is hidden.

Max This course has already made it clear that it will not show its foot before its time. His full body will be on display when the decisive moment arrives, starting with Q2 of this Saturday’s classification. For now, He was 7th, 0″684 behind Lando’s best time.. But everyone knows that it means nothing. When you put all the meat on the grill, turn on your machine faucet and pull out your magic rating wand, it will be there.

In Imolaseemed to suffer on Friday and ended up taking pole and winning in a worse car than Norris. He had problems with Canada and finished second in the classification and won the race due to an error in strategy. McLaren. In Barcelona He was 5th on Friday and second in qualifying and won on Sunday. And in Austria it ended any option of Landau in the race, the Englishman’s claim was dismissed, helpless despite having a faster car, Max couldn’t catch up until the two of them touched. Landau dominated this Friday, but you were more than warned.

He said this on Thursday in a press conference, acknowledging that it is something very new for him to fight for victories and especially against a Max who always pushes beyond the limits. And at Silverstone, in front of his fans, he must show that he can raise the level and be the antagonist that the current champion deserves, an opponent at his level.

From what we’ve seen in previous races, it’s clear that Max Verstappen will be on pole again this Saturday at a track that suits his car. It’s also clear that McLaren is on his level, perhaps even again with a better car than the Dutchman. And from there, Free Practice 2 did not serve to remove doubts about ‘Checo’ Pérez, Mercedes and Ferrari.

‘Czech’, third under pressure

‘Checo’ had to start paddling against the current after losing Free Practice 1 as his car was being driven by young Hadjar. At a time when he had to find the right adjustments to his car to progress, with Horner publicly highlighting that the Mexican must raise the bar for the fight for the Constructors’ World Championship, the one from Guadalajara finished th -3, 0.434 behind Norris, too. away, although there is still room for improvement in qualifying, ‘Checo’ will risk it again knowing that even if he renews his contract, Red Bull will not allow him to make many more mistakes.

And Mercedes?

For their part, Mercedes, wizards at playing hide and seek, did it again on Friday. They are expected to be on top after what they saw in Austria, especially in the race, and the doubt is whether they will be in the fight for pole after failing to make the final step in Q3 in Barcelona. and Austria. So far, Lewis Hamilton is 6th at 0″653 and Russell, 10th at 0″725. But there is still a lot of fabric to be cut and that could all change this Saturday.

Ferrari and fast corners

Ferrari was two steps behind McLaren and Verstappen in Barcelona and Austria and one step behind Mercedes, with a car that suffered in fast corners. And at Silverstone, a circuit full of these kinds of turns, things could happen again. Leclerc warned in FP1 of the car’s many problems in high-speed corners and said it was “very complicated to drive”. And in FP2, Charles managed to be 5th at 0″601. Sainz, for his part, was 8th at 0″700. Those in red will have a hard time.

Aston Martin, rowing against the tide

Alonso has been warning for weeks that Silverstone will be a circuit where he will suffer again, as he said for Austria and Barcelona. The goal of those in green should be to be as close to Q3 as possible and take advantage of any mistakes to get into the top 10.

This Friday, Alonso and Stroll compared the performance of a front wing modified for this track load and this element seemed to improve the performance of the car. But the home team will still have a hard time (their factory is in front of the circuit). Walk was 9th at 0″725 and Alonso was 11th at 0″823. The times are still not very representative, as Hülkenberg’s 4th place makes clear. We need to see the margin that everyone maintains in the face of a ‘qualification’ that could be very tight on all fronts. This time, at least, Alonso will have a new engine after the propeller problems he had in Austria. You will have more options than a week ago.