The F1 British GP did not go as hoped for the Scuderia Ferrari team. In rigorous conditions Lewis Hamilton battled his way to P4, which seemed to be the most the Italian team could do today.
While the seven-time world champion hoped to keep his streak of podium finishes at Silverstone since 2014, the streak came to an end this weekend. When speaking in the print media pen afterwards, Hamilton was asked about the race, in which he expressed:
“Difficult day, I think for everybody. It’s not the result that I was hoping for but I got some points.”
Tricky conditions with a difficult car
With the tricky conditions, the team gambled with strategy. The Ferrari team opted to pit Hamilton for slicks on Lap 42, wanting to go for an undercut as the track was drying as they looked to get ahead of Nico Hülkenberg.
The move caused the British driver to slide off the track almost immediately after exiting the pits. However, the seven-time World Champion still managed to claim a comfortable 4th.
The question of his radio messages regarding the car being “snappy” and hard to drive was asked. The Brit simply responded that: “It was the most difficult car given the conditions.”
The Ferrari driver continued to be asked if he thought it was possible to overtake the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg, who climbed his way from P19 to an incredible P3 finish. Hamilton quickly stated:
“Obviously not.”
The challenges of the SF-25
When asked about the battle with Lando Norris at the start of the race, Hamilton explained how difficult it was to chase the McLaren, stating:
“I was put under a lot of pressure. I had a chance on Lando into Turn 15, but they were just perfect. After that I struggled to keep up. The tyres dropped off massively. The car was unbelievably tricky to drive. I think ultimately, I learned a lot today. There’s lots to take from the day. It’s only my second time driving in the wet in this car. I can’t even express to you how hard it is. It’s not a car that likes those conditions.
“But as I said, having lots of data to take from this. For me, I might just sit down with the people that are designing the car for next year because there’s elements of this car that can go into the following year.”
When asked if the car got easier to drive as the race dried out towards the end, Hamilton expressed that the challenges remained.
“Not particularly, a little bit more when it was fully dry at the end, we got lots of grip. But even then, I went wide, I nearly snapped and spun at Turn 11 many, many times. Lots of mistakes today.”
“Not spectacular” first half of the season
Recently, both Ferrari drivers have expressed the difficulties they experience with the SF-25. The season has been tough for the Scuderia team and both drivers are left disappointed after another weekend of struggles. When the seven-time world champion was asked to summarize the first half of the season he expressed:
“Not spectacular. I finished every race, other than the disqualification. I’m not driving that terribly. Of course, I want to continue to improve. Qualifying was looking better yesterday. I think we just continue to build on that. I’m really hoping for some improvements moving forwards.”
When asked about which one thing he wants from the car that would give him the confidence in the second half of the season, Hamilton explained:
“Probably a consistent balance. A car that turns at a low speed. Just a more stable car. I think we were looking great through this weekend. In practice, we were always right up there. Still weren’t able to fully extract everything in quali and then the race is a little bit harder, so that’s where I want to get stronger.”
With a nearly three-week break coming up in the F1 calendar, the Ferrari team will want to retreat and bounce back stronger in Belgium.
