F1MATHS: Key takeaways from the British Grand Prix

Last Sunday's British Grand Prix delivered another fascinating chapter in the Formula 1 season, with Charles Leclerc securing victory for Ferrari after a dramatic late Safety Car. F1Technical's senior writer Balazs Szabo delivers some key takeaways from the Silverstone race.

Red Bull's Ferrari-inspired "flip-flop" rear wing, introduced earlier this season, is becoming an increasing headache for the Milton Keynes outfit.

The concept initially appeared promising, but it has now been linked to two serious incidents involving Max Verstappen. After suffering a frightening crash during qualifying in Austria due to the wing failing to close properly, Verstappen experienced a similar problem during the British Grand Prix.

Running in third place and looking set for another podium, Verstappen suddenly lost rear downforce when the wing failed to return to its closed position, sending the RB22 spinning into the gravel at Stowe. The incident brought out the Safety Car that ultimately neutralised the finish of the race.

Afterwards, the four-time World Champion did not hide his frustration.

"When the rear wing doesn't close fully, you lose a lot of downforce and you spin off the track," Verstappen explained. "One time, okay, but two times... this is becoming dangerous for myself."

With two significant failures in consecutive race weekends, Red Bull may now be forced to abandon the innovative rear wing until it can guarantee its reliability, even if that means sacrificing some aerodynamic performance.

Fernando Alonso's race was compromised before the Grand Prix had even begun. The Spaniard stopped on the formation lap due to a systems issue, forcing Aston Martin to start him from the pit lane after successfully restarting the car.

Chief Trackside Officer Mike Krack confirmed that the problem was related to the car's systems rather than a mechanical failure, with the team now investigating exactly what caused the issue. On a weekend where Aston Martin already lacked outright pace, the delayed start effectively ended any realistic hopes of scoring points.

“We finished our home race at Silverstone with both cars, but it was a difficult afternoon with our performance level limiting our opportunities to progress.

"Both drivers used the same strategy: starting on the Medium tyres, then changing to Hards, before moving to the Softs under the Safety Car. Fernando had a car systems issue on the way to the grid, forcing him to start from pit lane, so we need to investigate the cause further," said Krack.

Russell still searching for answers despite podium finish
George Russell finished second to claim his first podium of the season, but neither the Mercedes driver nor Team Principal Toto Wolff felt the result reflected a comfortable weekend.

Wolff admitted Russell had "not quite gelled with the car" throughout the event, while the Briton revealed he is still trying to understand why he has struggled to extract maximum performance from the W17.

His race became even more difficult after suffering a slow puncture that caused the car to become increasingly unstable as tyre pressure dropped over several laps before an additional pit stop became necessary. Pirelli later confirmed that the puncture was most likely caused by debris rather than a tyre-related issue.

Although Russell still managed to secure second place, both driver and team made it clear that understanding the remaining balance issues has become one of Mercedes' key priorities.

"I've been trying to understand for a while why I'm struggling, and although today felt slightly better, there are still a lot of things we can improve.

"I could feel the slow puncture developing during the race and lost around five or six PSI over a lap and a half, which made the car feel increasingly unbalanced. Putting that aside though, there's still work for us to do to understand where we're missing performance," noted Russell.

McLaren once again demonstrated solid race pace, but the team acknowledged it still lacks the final few tenths required to consistently challenge Mercedes and Ferrari.

Team Principal Andrea Stella admitted the performance deficit has become increasingly clear over recent races and confirmed that a significant upgrade package is scheduled for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

“The clearest takeaway from this weekend is that we must improve the performance of the car. We have a consistent gap to the front-runners that we need to close if we are to be in contention for podiums and wins, which is our ultimate goal.

"We have some major upgrades planned for Hungary, and until then, the entire team trackside and at the factory must continue to work hard and maximise every opportunity," said Stella.

With Hungary marking the final race before Formula 1's summer shutdown, the Woking-based team hopes the new components will allow it to close the gap to the front and return to fighting for podium finishes and victories.

Audi's debut Formula 1 campaign continues to be hampered by reliability issues. Nico Hülkenberg retired from the British Grand Prix after suffering a gearbox failure, but the German revealed that problems had already appeared before the race began, with something feeling unusual on the laps to the grid and an unsatisfactory launch off the line.

“In the race, I had to push early on in dirty air and had a small spin, which made tyre management difficult, and we then had a gearbox issue that ultimately forced us to retire," noted Hulkenberg.

After battling through dirty air and spinning early in the race, the gearbox problem eventually forced his retirement, adding another setback to what has been a challenging first season for the manufacturer.

Alpine celebrated a rare double points finish as Franco Colapinto finished ninth and Pierre Gasly completed the top ten. Despite the encouraging result, Executive Advisor Flavio Briatore admitted the team remains concerned about Racing Bulls' recent performance gains.

According to Briatore, Racing Bulls have established themselves as the stronger midfield team over the last two races, and Alpine now needs to accelerate its development programme to close the gap.

“Double points at the home race for the team is a good result from where we started the race and the relative performance level we have shown across the weekend.

"We know we need to keep improving and push hard with bringing new parts to the car, especially as we have to compete and race more consistently with the Racing Bulls, who have looked strong at the last two races. We know we're in a close fight with them in the standings, but we aren't close on track currently," said Briatore.

The battle between the two teams could become one of the defining midfield stories during the second half of the season.

Williams endured another frustrating weekend, with Alex Albon retiring after first-lap front wing damage. Instead of simply completing laps, the team used the remainder of the race to gather valuable data on the new front wing introduced at Silverstone.

Albon admitted that testing has become an unfortunate theme of Williams' season, but stressed that collecting aerodynamic data now should help the team maximise the effectiveness of future upgrades later in the year.

"We pivoted and used the rest of the race as a testing session to gather more data on the front wing upgrade we brought this weekend,' started Albon his assesement.

"Test sessions seem to sum up our season so far, but we're focused on gathering as much data and understanding as we can so that when we bring upgrades later in the season, we'll be in a better position. It's frustrating, but we'll debrief and look ahead to Spa in two weeks."

Silverstone's work did not end when the chequered flag fell. Pirelli remained at the circuit for a two-day development programme with Mercedes and Williams to continue testing prototype slick tyres for the 2027 Formula 1 regulations.

The sessions focused on refining tyre construction as preparations continue for the sport's next regulatory cycle.

Although Cadillac finished outside the points with Sergio Pérez in 14th and Valtteri Bottas in 16th, the American outfit left Silverstone with reasons for optimism.

For the first time, both cars completed a full race distance using the floor upgrade package introduced in Austria, allowing engineers to properly evaluate its performance.

Both drivers reported noticeable improvements in tyre management, particularly during the hard tyre stint, with Bottas suggesting the team looked closer to the midfield than in previous races.

While additional performance is still required to regularly challenge for points, completing the race without reliability problems provided valuable data that should help optimise the package ahead of the upcoming rounds.