03/07/2015
NEWS STORY
Nico topped both practice sessions with Lewis finishing the morning in second and the afternoon in fourth on the time sheets. An eventful opening session saw a spin for Lewis and a hydraulic problem for Nico in the early stages. A fantastic effort from the crew, performing a gearbox change in just 42 minutes, saw Nico back on track before the end of P1. The team did, however, receive a reprimand for covering Nico's car upon its return to pit lane. Both cars ran the prime (hard) tyre in P1, the prime and option (medium) compound in P2.
Nico Rosberg: It was a difficult start to the weekend with the issue in P1 - but incredible to see the crew get my car back on track before the end of the session. It really was a top job, so a big thanks to them for that. I was then able to attack for a few laps right at the end which was great. In the afternoon it went a bit better - but there were also some little problems here and there and the car felt not quite perfect. It's a very demanding track with lots of different types of corners and there's still a lot work to do for us to find the right set up. In general, though, it's great to see so many people out there already today in the stands. A special 'cheers' to all our factory team-mates who came out today too. We'll push for a strong result for them this weekend, so here's keeping those fingers crossed!
Lewis Hamilton: It's generally been a good day. Not perfect - and we've got some work to do overnight - but the pace is decent. I didn't have the ideal balance on the long runs and I've got a bit of work to do on setup. But otherwise it's all been good. The tyres feel strong - it doesn't take too long to warm them up which is a positive. I've also gone back on clutch setup which feels really good so far - just like it did in the first few races. So, overall, it's looking like a positive start. Saying that, Ferrari look strong again here and they were right there with us today, so it should be a good battle. Hopefully we'll find a bit more tomorrow otherwise we could find ourselves in trouble. I have to say, the fans have been fantastic this weekend already. The level of support is just incredible - and it's only Friday! Fortunately the weather has been good so far and I hope it continues that way for everyone out there cheering us on.
Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: That was a pretty tricky couple of sessions today: although the basic performance looked good on the short runs and the long runs, the car was a bit of a handful for Nico and Lewis. There were some crosswinds to cope with, like you get at Silverstone, and the track temperatures were much higher than what has been forecast for the race on Sunday. In terms of the headline times, Nico put in a decent lap in FP2 while it didn't come together for Lewis, so we need to analyse the car carefully to identify the reason for that. Overall, we have a good platform for the weekend, so now we need to make the right decisions and turn that into a strong qualifying performance tomorrow. It was also fantastic to know that so many of our team-mates from Brackley and Brixworth were in the grandstands today, and that made it all the more satisfying to grab the fastest times in both sessions.
Paddy Lowe, Executive Director (Technical): It wasn't the easiest start to the weekend with a hydraulic problem in Nico's gearbox during the early phases of P1. The crew did an incredible job - changing the gearbox and getting the car back out for a run on fresh tyres within 42 minutes of it returning to the garage, which was a fantastic team effort. Lewis had a more normal programme. P2 took place in much warmer conditions - unusually hot, in fact, for Silverstone. Both cars were struggling a little with balance, so we tried a number of different setup changes looking to find the best direction. We've got plenty of work ahead this evening to get things spot on for the drivers ahead of what looks like being a close battle this weekend.
Check out our Friday gallery, here.