British Grand Prix: Mercedes woes continue as Max Verstappen takes practice double

By Tom Cary, Senior Sports Correspondent, at Silverstone

Lewis Hamilton said “no matter what Mercedes do” the car continues to be difficult to drive as he and team mate George Russell could only go 15th and 12th respectively respectively in practice ahead of Sunday’s British Grand Prix. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen topped the timesheets.

British fans hoping to see the Mercedes duo in the fight for the podium at their home grand prix this weekend look destined to be disappointed with Hamilton and Russell struggling all day with a lack of grip at the Northamptonshire circuit.

They were 12th and 14th fastest respectively in first practice, despite both cars being fitted with yet another new front wing as Mercedes continue to deliver upgrades aimed at returning them to a competitive position. And did not improve much in the afternoon.

“It was very windy which makes it tricky,” Hamilton said. “The wind helps make it the best track in the world; the combination of tailwind, crosswind. I don’t mind it, but it definitely made it a little inconsistent.

“But car-wise, we’re back with the same thing, it’s a tough car to drive. No matter what we do it continues to be a tough car to drive. We’re missing something. The long runs don’t seem too bad, which is one positive at least.”

Asked whether he knew what to do to turn it around, Hamilton laughed as he said bluntly: “No. Me and George were talking just now and he’s one way with the setup and I’m the other. He was like ‘I’m thinking of coming to where you are but your lap times are slow’ and I was saying ‘I’m thinking of coming to where you are!’. We’ll try to work on it tonight and maybe do some work in the sim[ulator].”

There was also some potentially gloomy news as regards the rest of the season, with Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff saying Mercedes no longer have the budget this year to carry out all the requests being made by his drivers, having spent a large chunk of their $135 million budget on the upgrade package unveiled in Monaco as a response to their slow start in Bahrain.

“Lewis and George have been pretty vocal about what they would want to change in the car, and that’s simply not possible because we are lacking the financial corridor,” Wolff said. “That’s why we’re looking very much at next year to change these things.”

Verstappen, who also topped first practice, ended the day 0.022sec quicker than Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, last year’s winner. Ferrari look to be Red Bull’s nearest challenger although Sainz’s team-mate Charles Leclerc did not get out in the second session at all after the team discovered an electrical problem over the lunch break.

Williams driver Alex Albon raised eyebrows as he went third quickest, with team-mate Logan Sargeant fifth behind Red Bull’s Sergio Perez. But Lando Norris could only go 14th fastest in the upgraded McLaren that carried him to fourth place last weekend in Austria.

Aston Martin were also a little slower than expected. Fernando Alonso, third in the championship for Aston Martin, was 10th fastest on single-lap pace, with team-mate Lance Stroll sixth.