Williams spy chance to 'mix it up' at second Silverstone GP

The Williams F1 team is excited about the possibilities presented by a rapid return to Silverstone for the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix this weekend.

George Russell ended last week's British GP in 12th place while Nicholas Latifi finished ahead of both Romain Grosjean and Kimi Raikkonen, an impressive result for a team which was badly off the pace in 2019.

While the next race will be held on the same circuit, there will be several differences between the two races which give both Russell and Latifi hopes of being able to do even better.

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"It will be a different race this weekend," Russell acknowledged in an interview with the official Formula1.com website.

"last week we were on the three hardest compounds. It was relatively cool, track temp was around 35 or 30C," he explained.

"This weekend we’re on [tyres that are] a step softer, it’s going to be [really] hot and I think it’ll be very exciting.

Last week the front runners qualified on medium tyres to start the race on, and then switched to the longer-lasting hard compound after lap 12 to make it the rest of the way.

But in a frantic finish to the race, several cars hit problems with tyre delamination including both Mercedes drivers. As a result, tyre suppliers Pirelli have mandated higher tyre pressures for the second race.

"Pirelli bump[ed] up the pressures following last week’s blow-ups so I think we’ll be in for a good race," Russell said. Teams will now be running 27 psi for the front tyres and 22 psi for the rears

With Pirelli providing a different selection of compounds for teams to use this weekend, the hard compound won't even be available this time round, which makes a one-stop strategy almost impossible for anyone to consider. That could help give Williams a= strategic opportunity on Sunday.

“We’ll have to change our approach,” Russell agreed. "I think we’ll see a two-stop race for a lot of guys, especially for those who qualify in the top ten on the soft compound.

"They would definitely have to do a two-stop, which I think will give us the opportunity to maybe capitalise on that," he said. "It’s going to be a really interesting and exciting weekend

Russell's rookie team mate was also looking forward to what might be possible on Sunday.

“Having the whole range of tyres moved one step softer, it’s going to create more management," said Latifi, who described Silverstone as being a track that "gives the tyres a hard time".

“I’m looking forward to it because it does give a little bit of a mix-up," he continued. [It] spices things up compared to last weekend.”

Four races in to the 2020 season, Williams are the only team not to have picked up a single championship point sop far. However Russell has successfully made it through to the second round of qualifying in three consecutive sessions.

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