Mercedes duo dominant in final Silverstone practice – Formula 1 news
Mercedes proved their dominance over a single lap run yet again, as their drivers Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton finished one-two respectively in the final practice session of the Silverstone GP.
Unlike the Friday practice sessions, the skies were clear this afternoon, allowing all of the teams to gather necessary data for dry running.
Although critics expected Lotus and Red Bull to be strong with slightly higher track temperatures, Mercedes proved them wrong and were way ahead of their rivals.
Both Rosberg and Hamilton continued to nail some fast laps, but the former of the two managed to finish ahead in the end. It seems that they will once again be strong in the qualifying session and will be starting the race from the front row of the grid
unless they suffer any technical problems.
Other than the Mercedes duo, no other driver was able to break the 1 minute 31 seconds barrier, but Red Bull confirmed their strong pace with their pair of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber finishing third and fourth respectively.
It was surprising to see Ferrari struggle once again like they did during the Friday practice sessions on a damp circuit. They were expected to be strong under normal circumstances, but failed to make an impression.
Fernando Alonso was the only Ferrari driver to finish on the top-10, as he secured seventh place whereas his team-mate Felipe Massa ended up down in 15th. They might have been on higher fuel loads, but the real picture will be clear during the qualifiers.
Lotus displayed average speed compared to their rivals and it seems that they will once again fail to qualify strongly and will have to depend on their tyre strategy, which has earned them some useful points this year.
Amongst the midfielders, Toro Rosso and Force India were quite strong. The latter of the teams has been doing a fabulous job since the start of the season, thus it was not a surprise to see their drivers Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta in the top-10.
However, Toro Rosso’s Daniel Ricciardo pulled off a huge surprise by finishing sixth overall. He secured the same spot during P2 whereas finished on top of the table during a rain-hit first practice session, where most of the drivers opted not to post any
lap times.
Looking at the result of P3, it seems that Mercedes and Red Bull will be fighting for the pole with the former team at a clear advantage.
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