Alonso P18, Stroll P19 in the British Grand Prix
SilverstoneThe British Grand Prix, Round 9 of the Formula 1 season, took place at Silverstone Circuit.
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Fernando Alonso suffered an issue during the formation lap when his car shut down, bringing him to a temporary halt on track. He was able to restart and resume running, attempting to catch the field, but could not return to his original position before the Safety Car line and was therefore required to start from the pit lane.
Lance Stroll started from the back of the field in 22nd after receiving a 10-place grid penalty for taking additional power unit elements. On the opening lap, he passed Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) to move up to 20th, but the cars ahead, Alexander Albon (Williams) and Oliver Bearman (Haas), made contact and both ran off track. Stroll, running directly behind, was also forced into the run-off area but avoided contact. However, he lost out to Bottas at this point and ran in 19th.
In the early stages, both drivers continued on the Medium tyres before Stroll pitted on Lap 19 and Alonso on Lap 21, both switching to Hards. On Lap 22, a brief Virtual Safety Car (VSC) was deployed to remove an umbrella that had fallen from the grandstand onto the track. On Lap 23, Stroll lost balance on the exit of Turn 4, allowing Alonso through and changing the order between the two team-mates.
On Lap 38, Nico Hulkenberg (Audi) stopped at the side of the track, triggering another VSC, with Alonso in 19th and Stroll in 20th. Stroll was handed a total of 15 seconds in time penalties for repeated track limits infringements.
In the closing stages, on Lap 48, Max Verstappen (Red Bull Ford), who had been running in 3rd, lost balance at Turn 15 and stopped in the gravel. The Safety Car (SC) was deployed for his car to be recovered. Many cars pitted at this point, with Alonso and Stroll also switching to Soft tyres. Although it was announced that the race would resume for the final lap, it ended behind the Safety Car. Alonso took the chequered flag in 18th, with Stroll 19th.
The car switched off during the formation lap and I managed to restart it, but we need to investigate and find out what happened. In the race we stopped twice and tried to learn as much as possible to help with the development of this car. We are all working well together and hopefully we see some improvements in the second half of the year.
The car switched off during the formation lap and I managed to restart it, but we need to investigate and find out what happened. In the race we stopped twice and tried to learn as much as possible to help with the development of this car. We are all working well together and hopefully we see some improvements in the second half of the year.
We have the information we need and understand where we need to improve, so these weekends are just a case of being patient and waiting for the upgrades to come. We had a lot of understeer during the race and a very unpredictable car, so it's hard with track limits. I'm always trying to give it everything I can, and hopefully things get better soon.
We have the information we need and understand where we need to improve, so these weekends are just a case of being patient and waiting for the upgrades to come. We had a lot of understeer during the race and a very unpredictable car, so it's hard with track limits. I'm always trying to give it everything I can, and hopefully things get better soon.
We finished our home race at Silverstone with both cars, but it was a difficult afternoon with our performance level limiting our opportunities to progress. Both drivers used the same strategy: starting on the Medium tyres, then changing to Hards, before moving to the Softs under the Safety Car. Fernando had a car systems issue on the way to the grid, forcing him to start from pit lane, so we need to investigate the cause further. It was great to see so much support from the British fans this weekend – we will keep pushing and there is more performance coming soon.
We finished our home race at Silverstone with both cars, but it was a difficult afternoon with our performance level limiting our opportunities to progress. Both drivers used the same strategy: starting on the Medium tyres, then changing to Hards, before moving to the Softs under the Safety Car. Fernando had a car systems issue on the way to the grid, forcing him to start from pit lane, so we need to investigate the cause further. It was great to see so much support from the British fans this weekend – we will keep pushing and there is more performance coming soon.
We completed the full distance in yesterday’s Sprint and in today’s race with both cars, which is the first time since Miami. This is positive, considering we have had power unit reliability problems in the last two grands prix.
Silverstone is challenging for energy management, especially through the high-speed corners and it’s difficult to predict how the drivers’ throttle application will occur. After practice and the Sprint, we had optimised our data settings with our current PU package.
Post-qualifying we received some positive feedback from Fernando about driveability consistency and energy management. We also had the same in Austria and, even if we’re not where we want to be, it indicates that we’re working in the right direction with the Aston Martin Aramco Formula One™ Team. This is particularly important before we introduce the new spec PU at the Dutch Grand Prix.
We completed the full distance in yesterday’s Sprint and in today’s race with both cars, which is the first time since Miami. This is positive, considering we have had power unit reliability problems in the last two grands prix.
Silverstone is challenging for energy management, especially through the high-speed corners and it’s difficult to predict how the drivers’ throttle application will occur. After practice and the Sprint, we had optimised our data settings with our current PU package.
Post-qualifying we received some positive feedback from Fernando about driveability consistency and energy management. We also had the same in Austria and, even if we’re not where we want to be, it indicates that we’re working in the right direction with the Aston Martin Aramco Formula One™ Team. This is particularly important before we introduce the new spec PU at the Dutch Grand Prix.
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