Almost unavoidably, rain was right on cue for the start of practice on Friday at the 2013 Formula One British Grand Prix. It was extremely wet out at the Silverstone circuit, though the good news is that the rain should pass come Sunday.
In fact, the outlook for the rest of the weekend is looking good, which means we should have a dry race.
The predicted maximum temperature for Sunday’s race is a mild 70 degrees F (21 degrees C). The skies should be partly cloudy, the wind speed low and humidity at around 66 percent.
Because of the foul weather, nothing much happened during Friday’s first practice session, with the majority of the field spending a long time in the pits, following the installation lap, in the hope of an improvement in the weather.
The quickest times so far were posted by Scuderia Torro Rosso driver Daniel Ricciardo, Sauber driver Nico Hulkenberg and Williams driver Pastor Maldonado.
Making the situation worse for drivers are some very slippery sections. Many parts of the asphalt at Silverstone are new, with the new asphalt less bumpy and abrasive than the older sections, meaning less grip.
Pirelli has brought its P Zero Orange hard and P Zero White medium tires, but because of the weather Cinturato Green intermediate and Cinturato Blue full wets will also be at the disposal of teams.
Going into tomorrow’s qualifying and Sunday’s eventual race, Red Bull Racing’s Sebastian Vettel leads the Drivers’ Championship with 132 points versus the 96 points of Fernando Alonso and the 88 points of Kimi Räikkönen, who fill the second and third spots on the ladder, respectively.
In the Constructors’ Championship, Red Bull Racing remains the clear leader with 201 points, followed by Ferrari in second with 145 points and Mercedes AMG in third with 134 points.
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