F1 News

'Mercedes need to dial out some of the understeer' to catch Verstappen

16 July 2021 at 16:21
Last update 16 July 2021 at 17:22
  • GPblog.com

There was a huge gap between the number one and two of the drivers' championship at the end of FP1 at Silverstone. Max Verstappen was over 0.7 seconds faster than title rival Lewis Hamilton.

Evenly matched at the start

After the session, Sky Sports F1 's Karun Chandhok finds out how Verstappen was able to gain so much time. Verstappen and Hamilton are evenly matched in the first few corners, but Chandhok notices something in Turn 3: "Then they take different lines. Hamilton is tight, but Max misses the apex. By carrying the wider line and therefore more momentum, he gets a better run for the Wellington straight I think."

Hamilton's time loss

Verstappen grabs a small lead there as they head to the next corner combination. "The long right hander at Luffield, Hamilton has a slightly scrappier exit and loses a little bit of time. he has more understeer which costs him lap time."

From that point on, Hamilton loses a lot of time. He went slow on the gas after Becketts and had understeer at Stowe and Club at the end of the lap. "Max, meanwhile, is well on his way. Mercedes need to dial out some of the understeer on this car."