Mark Webber, Red Bull Racing
DING! Sebastian Vettel goes fastest in Friday morning practice for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, with a time of 1:32.280. DONG! Mark Webber hits back by going fastest in Friday afternoon practice with a time of 1:31.234.
Both Red Bull Racing drivers have been cautious of talking up their chances at the new-look Silverstone ahead of this year’s race, but it’s clear after last year’s dominant 1-2 here and having set pole position at all but one of this year’s grands prix, that Mark and Seb have their eyes on another front-row lockout.
In morning practice Seb completed 22 laps on his way to top time, leaving McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton just behind on 1:32.614 and Renault’s determined Robert Kubica in third, on 1:32.725. Mark came in at P4, on 1:32.747.
All the drivers spoke of having had to re-learn Silverstone, which this year features a completely new ‘Arrowhead’ infield section between Club Corner (Turn 10) and Luffield (Turn 17) and plenty of new bumps – particularly at Abbey (turn 11) where several made mistakes as they attempted to find the best line.
But by this afternoon it was Webber who seemed to have learned it best, to set a time 0.392s faster than Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso in second and ahead of Seb in third on 1:31.875.
Webber set his time with 15 minutes to go, before having to pit with electrical problems and Seb, too, had an eventful session, featuring a high-speed spin at Stowe corner.
In blazing sunshine and with track temperatures hitting 43C, Mark and Seb both set their personal bests on soft tyres that enabled them to take full advantage of the RB6′s proven excellence on the high-speed corners that characterise Silverstone.
With continued hot weather predicted for tomorrow’s qualifying session, Red Bull’s flying pair will be optimistic of carrying today’s advantage into the grid shoot-out. Whatever else happens this weekend, it’s showing all the signs of being another ding-dong battle between Webber and Vettel.
Source: Red Bull
Photo: Red Bull/Getty Images
