Lewis Hamilton signed his best Friday result so far in the 2022 Formula 1 season by finishing second in the second free practice session of the British Grand Prix, behind the benchmark record set by Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari .
The Mercedes driver signed a best lap of 1:29:105 that left him 163 thousandths behind the Spaniard, showing himself to be competitive this first day of activity in a weekend in which the Brackley team hopes to get closer to Ferrari and Red Bull.
“It’s been a good day,” Hamilton introduced after finishing the day. “I wish we had more filming in FP1. Silverstone is so special. It can be rainy in one corner or half the track, and dry the rest.”
“It was wet in [turn] six and seven, and a little bit in nine, and then it was dry in all the others. So it was difficult to maintain the [tyres] because they got hot. I’ve done about 10 laps, which has made me very happy. I don’t think many people have achieved that”, analyzed the local driver about the first free practice session at Silverstone.
“We continue to struggle with the rebound, not in a straight line but in the corners, and it’s quite hard. Not physically, but it shows on the car, on the tires and everything. So we still have work to do, but it seems like a small step. forward. You just have to keep working”, he assessed.
Mercedes brought with it a number of updates for the W13, although Hamilton clarified that they did not influence the balance of the car itself, but are focused on improving downforce levels.
“The update has nothing to do with the behavior of the car, but with the downforce, and it is difficult to evaluate it because they are two circuits [Montreal, the previous appointment, and Silverstone] very different, since we went from a low speed circuit to one of medium and high speed”.
“It’s much smoother this track, much better, more like Barcelona. For me this is the best. It’s still hair-raising to drive and we’re slowly struggling to control the car. Our long-term pace is not as as good as the others, but it’s not miles away,” he said.
If he maintains the level shown on Friday, Hamilton could make history again on Sunday in the race since, if he finishes on the podium, he would automatically become the driver with the most podiums on the same circuit, with 13, breaking ties with Michael Schumacher, who scored 12 at Imola, Barcelona and Montreal.
