Great Britain: Variable weather doesn’t change Daniel’s destiny
The conditions were chaotic at Silverstone, but Daniel’s race ended in a stalemate and a 13th-place result after a Q2 exit.
Race data
Great Britain (Round 12 of 24), 5-7 July, 2024
Silverstone: 5.891km, 52 laps
Qualified: 15th
Finished: 13th
Laps per position: 12th (1 lap), 13th (17 laps), 14th (23 laps), 15th (7 laps), 16th (3 laps)
Pit stops/tyres: Lap 26 (medium/intermediate), Lap 37 (intermediate/soft)
Fastest lap: 1min 30.735secs (15th), lap 47
Points this event: 0
Points this season: 11 (13th in world championship)
Daniel's download
“I don’t want to play the ‘poor us’ card in terms of things not going our way today – it was a mixed conditions race and that excited us in terms of grabbing some opportunities, but truth is we weren’t competitive in all conditions.
“I felt we lacked speed today. It was definitely tricky. A pretty long race. Every time I saw the weather change I thought ‘maybe this is the moment everything will come alive’, but really it was not a competitive day. It’s a long race, 50-something laps, and you know when you don’t have it, and we struggled. We struggled more than we should have.
“I know this wasn’t going to be a real competitive circuit for us but I still felt that, relatively, we struggled more. The last three weekends have been so … compared to some of our competitors in the midfield, we have lost out in the upgrade battle.
“Budapest next – it’s a completely different circuit, so let’s see … but still, it’s not enough for us to say ‘that track will suit us, so we’ll be OK’. We’ve got to rectify some weaknesses, and I’ll look at my race and work out where I lacked the pace. But there were times where we were missing about eight-tenths [of a second] a lap, and I didn’t really feel like that was there.
“A little bit puzzled through moments of the race, but in the end it was just one of those days.”
DR’s race recap
* Qualified 15th, finished lap 1 in 15th place.
* Passed Magnussen/Haas for 14th on lap 8.
* Repassed by Magnussen on lap 16, to 15th.
* Overtaken by Perez/Red Bull on lap 17, demoted to 16th.
* Pitted on lap 26 from 14th, rejoined 14th on intermediate tyres.
* Advanced to 13th on lap 34 after Russell/Mercedes retired.
* Pitted on lap 37 for soft tyres from 12th, dropped to 13th.
* Finished 13th after 51 laps, 1 lap behind winner Hamilton/Mercedes, and 30secs ahead of Leclerc/Ferrari in 14th.
DR’s next destination
Round 13: Hungary (Hungaroring), 21 July
Hungary in 2023: qualified 13th, finished 13th
In F1: 13 races, 1 win, 3 podiums, 2 fastest laps, 71 points, 5 points finishes
Best qualifying: 3rd (2016)
Best finish: 1st (2014)
