F2: All set for another go at Silverstone

The Ferrari Driver Academy (FDA) drivers have spent their time since last weekend at Silverstone, taking a breather and evaluating the lessons learned. They had a tougher time than expected and have analysed all the difficulties they encountered to be ready for this coming weekend’s racing, again over the 5.891 kilometres of the historic British circuit. Only then will it be clear if they have succeeded in overcoming those problems.

Still in the lead. Despite having a tricky weekend, Robert Shwartzman still held onto the lead in the championship on 81 points, eight more than Callum Ilott in second. The Englishman did well last weekend, apart from a problem on the formation lap of the Feature race, which saw him start from the pit lane. A brilliant fight back ended with fifth place, while in the Sprint Race he spun out while lying second.

Potential. “Callum certainly had the potential to do well in both races”, said head of the FDA technical department Marco Matassa. “His pace was very competitive, but you have to put everything together to hit your targets and something was missing. This weekend will be an important check for all our drivers. Robert hopes he’ll have a different sort of weekend, starting with qualifying, which is crucial at Silverstone. Mick will have to work with the team on tyre management and, in general, all the youngest drivers will be able to get to know even better the high speed corners of Silverstone, an important lesson, especially for those new to the category this season.”

Redemption. Last weekend Mick Schumacher was third in qualifying and led the Feature Race for many laps, before slowing with excessive tyre degradation. For him and Marcus Armstrong and Giuliano Alesi, the second round at Silverstone will be a good opportunity to confirm progress made, also for future races this season. The calendar does not have many breaks to recover with five rounds in the next six weekends.