Is Ferrari back? Is there really any fire behind Charles Leclerc's second-place finish to Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen at the Austrian Grand Prix, or is it just smoke and mirrors, with Carlos Sainz Jr.'s run to sixth at the Red Bull Ring the true measure? Somewhere between all that is the truth, as through two practices for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on Friday it was Sainz who was pushing Verstappen at the top of the time charts while Leclerc sat in the garage through the second practice, his pit crew searching for a troubling electrical issue on his Ferrari before eventually giving up to change their focus to Saturday's qualifying.
The early betting line had Leclerc tied with Fernando Alonso as the fourth favorite behind Verstappen, Sergio Perez in the second Red Bull, and Lewis Hamilton. Sainz was down the chart in seventh — between George Russell in sixth and Lance Stroll in eighth — but those odds are sure to change with Leclerc's issues and Sainz's flash and dash, and the fact that he returns to the track as its defending champion, having won here in 2022. Sainz has been coming on of late, and if there was a track where he could figure to be on the podium at, if not win, this is it. Silverstone seems to suit his skillset well. Despite the Ferrari not being the best at high-speed corners, he seems to get the most out of his car here.
But the Spaniard was nonetheless realistic regarding his chances.
"Max and Red Bull are in a different league at the moment," Sainz told formula1.com, echoing a sentiment shared by most in the F1 paddock. "[But] if they put a foot wrong, why can't we be the first ones to capitalize on it?"
Behind Verstappen on the time charts after the second free practice were Alex Albon, who is proving he has the ability to challenge for a points-paying finish in a Williams that is greatly improved from the start of the season, and Perez, who seems to have regained his mojo as well by finishing on the third step at Austria and getting his weekend off to a fast start for Silverstone. Albon's teammate, U.S. rookie Logan Sargeant, also looked racy after FP2 and was right behind Perez at fifth quickest.
As for the rest of the challengers — primarily Aston Martin and Mercedes — Stroll led the Aston charge with the sixth quickest time as Alonso struggled with a front-end issue and could only manage 10th quickest. The Mercedes duo soldiered to 12th quickest (Russell) and 15th (Hamilton).
With a 50% chance of rain during qualifying on Saturday compared to 30% for the race on Sunday, Silverstone still has more than a few cards up its sleeve to make the weekend go topsy-turvy in a hurry for the best of teams. Even Red Bull Racing.
How to watch the F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain
- Date: Sunday, July 9
- Location: 3.66 mile (5.891 kilometer), 18-turn Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone, Northamptonshire, U.K.
- Time: 10 a.m. ET
- TV: ESPN2, ESPN+
- Stream: fuboTV (try for free)
What to watch for
A one-stop strategy has worked best over the course of the 52 laps at Silverstone (covering a distance of 190.346 miles). Pirelli will be bringing a new slick C1 compound to the track, Yellow C2s will be the medium tire and Red C3s the softest. These new spec C1s were first used at the Spanish Grand Prix during practice, but not during the race, and the hope is that these "tougher" slicks will stand up to the additional downforce the 2023 spec F1 cars are generating.
It also adds a level of uncertainty for the teams, as they will not know what sort of degradation to expect from the new rubber straightaway. Silverstone is a demanding track as it is, one where heavy tire wear is always a factor, so this wrinkle could provide some intrigue on Sunday even with the teams receiving two extra sets of the new C1 to play with.
There will be the usual two DRS Zones with detection at the entrance of Turn 3, called "Village," activation at Turn 5 known as "Aintree," then detection at Turn 11, or "Maggotts," with activation at Turn 14, called "Chapel". As Silverstone is located in the area considered to be "Britain's Motorsport Valley," and the weekend returns to the regular format and not one with a sprint race, you can also expect teams to be rolling out upgrades, particularly as McLaren, Williams, Haas, Aston Martin, Alpine, Red Bull and even Mercedes operate their home garages close by.
