Qualifying
For various reasons, our three drivers didn’t exploit their potential or that of their cars and finished down between 15th and 23rd places. Kaylen fell behind schedule after a collision in free practice, Greg didn’t put all the sectors together and the changes made to Niko’s car didn’t have the desired effect.
Sprint race
After a downpour on the starting grid, Greg started on rain tires, but because the track dried quickly, he dropped back to last place.
On lap 8, when the track was wet again, Niko switched to rain tires, putting him in 14th place and 4th of the drivers on wet rubber. Unfortunately, the safety car neutralized the race for more than 5 laps, which caused him to lose the benefit of this strategy. After being on the verge of scoring points, he lost several places to the drivers on slicks in the final laps.
Greg and Kaylen did their best in the unexpected conditions to take 21st and 22nd, the final places.
Feature race
Greg, Niko and Kaylen fought and won several battles early in the race to take 11th, 13th and 14th places respectively on the 7th of 22 laps.
Greg broke into the top 10 at the halfway mark and went on to score two points. Niko was just about to open his scorecard when the rain once again reshuffled the cards. On slick tires, he was easy prey for his rivals on the Pirelli rain tires and he finished in 11th place overall.
Kaylen’s climb towards the points came to an end when he hit a curb during a rough duel with an opponent.
NIKOLA TSOLOV
“We were comfortable in free practice, just outside the top 10, then we made some changes to make the car even more efficient. Unfortunately, we went too far and paid for it in qualifying and we had to back off.
In both races, we had good pace, and I had a lot of fun overtaking around twenty rivals in total. Unfortunately, each time I was close to taking my first points, fate decided otherwise.
I’m taking away a lot of positive aspects from Silverstone: our lap speed, which is improving even if it needs to be improved even more, and our two races with great battles and good pace. I can’t wait to reward the team with some points!”
SEBASTIEN PHILIPPE
“With Greg, our gamble to start on rain tires didn’t pay off in the sprint race, and the scenario didn’t work in our favor. The late return of the rain, followed by a long neutralization, played into the hands of drivers who had chosen the opposite strategy to ours.
Niko also suffered, as he was on course to score big points before seeing his strategy ruined by the neutralization.
On Sunday, Greg was able to get back on track and score a few points. Niko should have been able to do the same, but the race once again worked against us with the roles reversed in relation to tire choice. He remained calm, concentrated, and fast in all phases of the race, which never went his way. I hope his hard work will pay off in Hungary and Belgium.
Kaylen got off on the wrong foot with an accident that limited his driving in free practice. He was very combative in the race but lacked success at times.”
Copyright: Formula Motorsport Ltd
