Silverstone (United Kingdom) (AFP)

It was expected: Mercedes dominated the first two free practice sessions of the British F1 Grand Prix on Friday at the Silverstone circuit, which suits the characteristics of his car.

"On paper, we should be in pretty good shape," said Toto Wolff's silver arrows boss before taking the track. His men have indeed crushed the competition in Spain in mid-May and France in late June, garnering two pole positions and two doubled on similar routes.

Friday, Bottas recorded the best time in 1 minute 26 seconds 732/1000, 69/1000 ahead of Hamilton.

"The car looks pretty balanced but there is room for improvement," said the Finn. "She's good on corners and there are plenty of turns, so that's a good thing."

"I feel we are in the game," confirms the British who admits, by cons, "fight with the back" of his car. "Valtteri seemed more comfortable, so we'll have to dig tonight to understand the problem," said the leader of the drivers' standings for 31 points.

- "The team to beat" -

The Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel follow at 197 and 448/1000 respectively, but the two men remain dissatisfied.

"We galley a little with the tires" in the long relay, says the Monegasque. "We have tried some things that we may come back to that have made things a bit difficult to read, but Mercedes is still very, very strong," adds the German.

For him, the German team will again be "the team to beat" in qualifying on Saturday (14:00 local / 15:00 French / 13:00 GMT).

The good surprise of the day came from Pierre Gasly, with disappointing performances since his promotion at Red Bull during the winter.

Pressed to raise his level by his management and the media, the Frenchman signed the best time of the morning session and the 5th of the afternoon, 313/1000 in front of his teammate Max Verstappen, winner of the previous round in Austria end of June, the first won this year by another team than Mercedes.

"We have made a lot of changes from Austria, from my side and with the team," he explains. "For now, it seems to pay (...) I feel comfortable in the car so we will try to continue in this direction and put everything together tomorrow (Saturday)."

Again, the middle of the table is tighter, with ten drivers in 307/1000 from 8th place, occupied by the Spaniard Carlos Sainz Jr (McLaren), in the 17th, owned by the Italian Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo Racing).

- "Moment a little embarrassing" -

The Williams, good last more than 3 sec, but also Romain Grosjean, 18th to 2 sec 062/1000), are however out of the box.

The Frenchman from Haas started his day with an improbable spin at the pit exit, when he turned off his speed limiter, which he explains in the cold. "A moment a bit embarrassing but it's part of life, I think it's better to laugh," he said. "It did not bother us for the rest of the day."

A hydraulic leak then deprived him of "a good half-hour" of driving in the afternoon. But Grosjean, who returned this weekend to the car he was driving at the opening of the season in Australia to try to understand why his current version is not up to par, says he still had "a quite productive day ".

In addition to Hamilton, many of the pilots have spun and gone off the track, with no consequences.

No wonder knowing that the asphalt was redone in June. Still greasy and slippery in the morning, it gradually gains grip while the tires put down gum. But it's mostly the gusts of wind that did not help.

Finally, there are some mechanical warnings during free practice 2. Mercedes changed "as a precaution" a spark plug Engine Bottas and George Russell (Williams) was a victim of a gearbox problem.

© 2019 AFP