03/07/2015
NEWS STORY
Round 9 of the FIA Formula One World Championship - the 2015 Formula 1 British Grand Prix - got underway in warm and sunny conditions this morning at the Manor Marussia F1 Team's home track of Silverstone.
At a circuit that both drivers know very well from the junior formulae, acclimatisation time was minimal, with both Will and Roberto getting straight down to the business of evaluating the latest car aerodynamic developments on the MR03B.
The pair enjoyed two relatively straightforward free practice sessions, although Roberto joined a number of other drivers in the gravel, where he was able to contain his spin promptly and return to the garage.
They ended the day with Will in P19 and Roberto P20.
Will Stevens: "A pretty good start to our home Grand Prix weekend, I think. Our new car developments seem to be working well and there is certainly more to come. The balance feels good, so we're in a good place to start the weekend and I think we're in interesting company in terms of the cars around us. The support we have received so far from the home crowd has been incredible, so hopefully we can have a good qualifying tomorrow."
Roberto Merhi: "It has been really good to test the new aero developments that we have for this weekend. I am not quite happy with the car yet and for sure we can continue to improve before qualifying, so we just need to take a good look at the data from today and see how we can achieve this."
John Booth, Team Principal: "I'm pretty happy with our first day of running, with what is a fairly substantial upgrade. Our development parts seem to be working well and have translated to the racetrack with the performance uplift we had hoped for. In particular, Will seems happy with the balance we have arrived at, whereas Roberto is not quite as comfortable yet. I'm confident that with a little more progress in tomorrow's FP3 session we can get both cars into a good place ready for qualifying."
Check out our Friday gallery, here.