Both Mercedes drivers took their turn to finish a Friday practice session in second place at a wet Silverstone today, suggesting that their cars should be competitive this weekend – especially if there is more rain.
Nico Rosberg, who was sixth in the morning session and second in the afternoon, was pleased with the wet-weather pace. However, he is hoping to get some dry running in tomorrow.
“It was difficult out there, however our car worked well in these conditions, and maybe we have a better pace in the wet,” he said. “The Pirelli intermediate tyres were certainly performing well today.
“We will have to wait for dry conditions to get a true picture of our updates as we weren't able to achieve all of the work that we would have liked, so tomorrow will be important for us.”
Michael Schumacher was second fastest in the first of the 90 minute sessions, and P12 in the afternoon. However, his fastest lap in FP2 was set on the full wet Pirelli tyre, unlike Rosberg’s which was done on a set of intermediates.
“It was difficult to judge the real performance of the car today as the conditions were never consistent enough to achieve a proper analysis of where we are,” said the seven-time world champion. “So I won't make any conclusions from today's practice sessions until we have the chance for some dry running tomorrow.
“However I'm confident that it was a good first day of our Silverstone weekend and I'm looking forward to one of our home races. We are continuing to develop step-by-step and make improvements to the car.”
Team principal Ross Brawn also agreed that it had been a productive day for Mercedes but, like his drivers, would like the rain to stay away tomorrow.
“We've had a pretty constructive day and were able to achieve quite a lot with the new aerodynamic and exhaust package,” he said. “Of course, it is difficult to judge in these conditions, and it would have been beneficial to be able to run it in the dry, however the two sessions still proved useful.
“The car looks reasonable here and we will make the decision tonight about what we do for tomorrow, when we await dry conditions with interest.”
