Feature
RACE ANALYSIS: How decisions under pressure played a huge role in the Silverstone Feature
The Silverstone Feature Race was one to remember as Arvid Lindblad claimed his second victory of the weekend ahead of PREMA Racing teammate Gabriele Minì, and Callum Voisin.
But it was not an easy race as the quickfire decisions made by both the drivers and their teams were of paramount importance in deciding the result. So, let us look at how it all unfolded…
RAIN HITS AHEAD OF THE FORMATION LAP
When the drivers left the support paddock and headed to the grid, conditions were dry although there were some grey clouds hovering above.
Those grey clouds turned into rain just before the start of the Formation Lap, meaning that both the teams and their drivers had a decision to make, stay on the Hard tyres or go to the Wets?
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Rodin Motorsport’s Piotr Wisnicki and Callum Voisin decided to stick with the Hards, but for the remaining 28 drivers, including their teammate Joseph Loake, it was right to change to the Wets.
Rodin Team Manager Sam Waple explained how the decision was made.
“It was absolutely a team choice,” said Waple. “Certainly, for Callum, his engineer was adamant that looking at the radar that it was going to be better to go on slicks and was very confident about that.
“With Piotr at the back of the grid, there was nothing to lose and both Piotr and his engineer decided that it was a good risk to take. Joseph and his engineer went with the majority, went with the pack, and they had a go on the wets.”
THE FORMATION LAP IS DRY
As the drivers set off on their Formation Lap the track was now dry, meaning a second big decision of the morning had to be made, which was whether to pit at the end of the Formation Lap for the slicks or to stick it out on the Wets.
Several chose to stay with the wets but the likes of Lindblad, Minì, Dino Beganovic, Oliver Goethe, Mari Boya, Tim Tramnitz, Tommy Smith, and Santiago Ramos made the decision to go back on the Hards.
While they came out well behind those who chose against pitting, a Safety Car caused by Cian Shields’ stoppage at Turn 3 allowed them to catch back up with the pack and gave Alexander Dunne and Charlie Wurz the chance to pit.
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At this point, the slick tyres were clearly the ones to be on as Wisnicki had come up from P30 to P13 while Voisin was in fourth after starting ninth.
A WET TWIST IN THE TAIL
We had racing for two laps before another Safety Car intervention was needed following Sophia Floersch’s stoppage along the Wellington Straight.
During that time, Voisin had taken the lead and built an eight second gap out front, while Tramnitz was in P2 ahead of pole-sitter Luke Browning, with Lindblad fourth, and Minì eighth.
But as the Safety Car appeared, so did the rain, prompting the next big decision, which was whether the slick tyre runners should go on to the wets?
Tramnitz, Ramos, Tasanapol Inthravuphasak, Goethe, Dunne, Boya, Beganovic, Mansell, and Sebastián Montoya all chose to go in for the wets. Voisin, Lindblad, Wisnicki, Smith and Minì decided to brave it out on the slicks.
With how the race played out, it is easy to say that the decision to switch to the wets is wrong. But as Lindblad’s race engineer told him at the time: “It’s a bit unpredictable at the moment,” so it was a guessing game.
For those that switched to the wets, things looked great when racing resumed on Lap 8, as they made their way up the field while those on the Hards struggled.
At this point, Browning had reclaimed his lead while Fornaroli was back up to second, as Voisin, Lindblad, Wisnicki, Smith and Minì fell through the order.
AN UNKNOWN FACT
On Lap 9, the third Safety Car of the race was called with Dunne and Montoya having crashed at the exit of Stowe.
The pit lane was closed and what we did not know at the time was that Browning was thinking about pitting.
“I think we would have pitted for slicks if the pit entry hadn't been closed because of the Alex Dunne crash but we couldn't which was quite unlucky,” said Browning.
The Hitech driver would have had a free stop and while he would have relinquished the lead, track position was not critical in this race, and Browning would likely have finished higher than P8.
THE FINAL FIGHTBACK
Someone who chose to go back on to the slicks was Goethe, coming into the pit lane at the end of the Safety Car period from P14 and given he finished P6 it was an excellent choice.
That was because as the drivers went racing again with 15 minutes left, there was no more rain, and the track was drying out once more.
With over 10 minutes to go, the crossover period was happening and Voisin, Lindblad, Minì, Smith and Wisnicki were all now beginning to make their move. Van Amersfoort Racing even told Noel León that the slick tyre runners were one second quicker than those on the wets.
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With less than six minutes to go Voisin took the lead from Browning as Lindblad and Minì followed him through as they went off into the distance to finish on the podium.
ANOTHER STOP WORTH IT?
AIX Racing also played a great hand by pitting Nikita Bedrin from P24 with six minutes to go to put him on the Hards. He went on to finish the race in P10, raising whether others should have done this?
Maybe but with the forecast so unpredictable they might have hoped for one final shower before the end of the race. That the rain did happen, it just came about 10 minutes after the chequered flag was waved.
This shows how fine the margins were at Silverstone but generally in Formula 3, as for Voisin, Lindblad, Minì, Smith and Wisnicki, staying on the Hards paid off.
But it could have gone different and for those that chose on the Wets, a few more minutes and they might have been the big winners. It is all part of the learning process.