VERSTAPPEN WINS AHEAD OF TWO BRITS

MARIO ISOLA - MOTORSPORT DIRECTOR

"First of all, well done to the amazing crowd at Silverstone: 480,000 is an impressive record, a sign of the incredible popularity Formula 1 is experiencing right now.
From a tyre point of view, this weekend delivered interesting answers. The introduction of the new construction went according to plan and initial analysis of the data is in line with our expectations. The feeling that all three compounds could be used in the race was confirmed this afternoon. Certainly, the considerably cooler temperatures when compared to Friday allowed for the Soft to be pushed harder for longer. But apart from that, the fact that all three compounds were valid choices meant the teams could choose the tyre combination that best suited their cars. Finally, a word about degradation, which was lower than expected for all three compounds, even though this track is one of the toughest on tyres. It meant the teams were able to extend their stints without any significant drop off in performance."

THE DAY ON TRACK

Another win for Max Verstappen, the reigning world champion now clearly the dominant force, along with his Red Bull Racing car, in 2023. This was Max's second win at the Silverstone circuit, following on from the Formula 1 70^th Anniversary Grand Prix held here in 2020. He was never really troubled, even if he was surprised at the speed of Lando Norris' start in the McLaren from the spot alongside him on the grid. Once back in front, the Dutchman had a trouble-free time of it, even after the restart on lap 39, as the race had been neutralised while Kevin Magnussen's Haas was removed from the side of the track. Much to the delight of most of the 480,000 strong crowd - a record for this track, Verstappen was joined on the podium by two British drivers, the aforementioned Norris and Lewis Hamilton, the Mercedes driver having been the main beneficiary of the appearance of the Safety Car.

Red Bull's win puts the team equal with McLaren for the most consecutive race wins (11.) The last time a driver for the Austro-British team did not win a race dates back to George Russell's victory in the Brazilian Grand Prix last year.

One-stop was the most common strategy, but the Soft proved far more popular than our earlier predictions. The only cars not to run the C3 were the two Ferraris and two McLarens.

The most used compound during the Grand Prix was the C2, which ran 485 laps, 50% of the total completed. The C3 was second (337 laps, 34.74%), followed by the C1 (148, 15.26%).

Russell's 28 laps was the longest stint on the Soft, while for the Medium, Verstappen, Hamilton, Norris and Alonso did 33 and Bottas ran 32 on the Hard.

The fastest laps for each compound were all set on tyres that had done ten or more laps. For the C1, the best time (1.30.543) was set by Norris on lap 43 with a set of tyres that was 10 laps old. Russell was quickest with the C2 (1.31.124) on lap 13 of his second stint, while the fastest race lap fell to Verstappen in 1.30.275 on C3 on lap 11 of his second stint. It should also be noted that after pit stops for Russell and Verstappen, the race was neutralised for five laps.

Formula 2

Wins for Frederik Vesti and Victor Martins in the Sprint and Feature races respectively at the Silverstone round of the FIA Formula 2 Championship. Saturday's race started in the rain, heavy enough for the cars to leave the grid following the Safety Car. Prema Racing's Danish driver was first past the line ahead of Theo Pourchaire (ART Grand Prix) and Jack Doohan (Invicta Virtuosi Racing). The Safety Car was also required in the Feature Race, won by Victor Martins (ART Grand Prix) despite being given a five second penalty. Another podium for Pourchaire, third behind Zane Maloney (Rodin Carlin). Vesti still leads the classification on 135 points ahead of Pourchaire (129) and Ayumu Iwasa (DAMS, 111 points).

Formula 3

The FIA Formula 3 Championship has not got long to run now with Silverstone hosting the sixth of nine rounds this season. Brazil's Gabriel Bortoleto (Trident) still leads the standings on the same 36 points as before, ahead of Spain's Josep Maria Martì (Campos Racing) while Italy's Gabriele Minì (Hitech Pulse-Eight) and the Estonian Paul Aron (Prema Racing) are equal third on 77 points, 51 behind the leader. The wins in England went to Franco Colapinto (MP Motorsport) in the Sprint, ahead of Bortoleto and Christian Mansell (Campos Racing) while the Feature ended in a one-two for Trident, Oliver Goethe taking his maiden win ahead of Leonardo Fornaroli with Martì completing the podium.

F1 ACADEMY

Thrills and excitement in the fifth round of the F1 Academy season, the series for women drivers which has Pirelli as its tyre supplier, held at the Monza circuit this weekend. Three races, three different winners: Marta Garcia (Prema Racing) was victorious in race-1, a photo finish putting her just 9 thousandths ahead of Lena Buhler. Jessica Edgar for Rodin Carlin rounded off the podium. ART Grand Prix's Swiss driver then won race-2 after a duel with Bianca Bustamante (Prema Racing). Third place was again a Rodin Carlin driver, but this time it was Abbi Pulling. The English girl was second in the race-3 which ended behind the Safety Car because of a collision down the back of the field, beaten to the chequered flag by Bustamante with Nerea Marti (Campos Racing) third, following a penalty handed out to Amna Al Qubaisi (MP Motorsport). Garcia still leads the field on 190 points ahead of Hamna Al Qubaisi (MP Motorsport) on 154 and Lena Buhler (148).

NEXT UP FOR OUR F1 TYRES

The next Formula 1 round is the Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest on 21 to 23 July. The softest compounds in the range (C3, C4 and C5) will be used at the Hungaroring and the event will trial the Alternative Tyre Allocation, a format which means that only Hard tyres can be used in Q1, Medium in Q2 and Soft in Q3. The use of ATA reduces the number of sets of dry weather tyres available for each car to 11, two fewer than on a traditional race weekend. The test will then be repeated at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza.