The first practice sessions in Silverstone became quite difficult for the drivers. New asphalt surface and strong gusts of wind caused frequent outs of drivers from the track.

The leaders of the championship, Mercedes haven't yet managed to show good results, despite the first position of Valtteri Bottas in FP2. In the second half of the session he set the best lap of day, shown 1.26,732, but then mechanics found out  malfunctions with engine on the Finn's car.

Bottas teammate Lewis Hamilton was dissatisfied with the behavior of his car. In the first session Hamilton showed only the 4^th time; in FP2 Lewis lost to Bottas only 0.069 seconds, but remained the second. Unlike Valtteri Lewis felt uncomfortable in the car, and even was out of the track several times because of the wind and sliding tyres.

According to the results of Friday practice sessions the main rivals of Mercedes are still Red Bull and Ferrari. However, those also have big problems in technical terms and with tyres work.

Last year Mercedes didn't succeed in Silverstone.

Last year's British Grand Prix was held in unusually hot conditions for these places, which influenced the course of the struggle. Pirelli brought tyres with a thin working layer, and it was believed that this would give the advantage of Mercedes.

However, the race was actually decided at the start. Lewis lost the start and was immediately overtaken by Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas. And then Kimi Raikkonen crashed into the rear wheel of Lewis’ car. Hamilton was spun and then he moved to the end of peloton.

Valtteri Bottas didn't have much of a chance to get ahead of Vettel, although the strategy could play a significant role. Leaders held pit stops on 20-21 laps, their order after returning to the track hasn’t changed. However, after Ericsson's accident on the 33^rd lap, both Ferrari drivers went to the pits, and Bottas remained on the track and took the lead.

Overtaking in Silverstone isn’t easy, and Finn could have kept the lead, but by the end of the race the tyres on Valtteri’s car were too worn out, and he missed not only Vettel, but Hamilton, and then Raikkonen. And then Bottas had a retirement because of brake failure.

Well, let's see how will the British Grand Prix be for Mercedes this year.

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