Alexander Dunne put himself at the front of F2 Free Practice at Silverstone with a 1:42.065, then said he is targeting pole position in Qualifying. The Rodin Motorsport driver ended the opening session of Round 7 with the quickest lap and enough margin to set the early pace.
Silverstone pace set
Rafael Câmara was narrowly beaten to the top spot, while Sebastián Montoya was disqualified from Silverstone Practice. Dunne’s lap came in the session’s opening run, giving him the benchmark before the field switches its focus to Qualifying.
After Free Practice, he said the result felt natural. “It was a good session, I really enjoyed it. To be honest, after every lap, the first thing I was thinking was, this is really fun. I really, really enjoy the track.”
Track limits at Silverstone
Track limits already bit hard in the opening session, and Dunne was one of many drivers caught out. He pointed to Turns 9 and 15 as the main trouble spots, with Copse and Stowe also demanding precision because they carry so much lap time and can be overstepped quickly.
He said the margin for error is smaller here because the lap is nearly six kilometres long, so a deleted time hurts more than it would at a shorter circuit. That matters in Qualifying, where one slip can wipe out the best effort before the sheet is even cleared.
“It is difficult, I think Turn 9 and Turn 15 in particular, if you over-push slightly or the car is maybe a bit too on edge, it's quite easy to push it outside the track limits,” he said. “I think I did it a couple of times as well.”
Dunne eyeing Qualifying
The pace picture is encouraging for Dunne because he said the balance was good and that he was driving pretty well. He also said the jump from the Hard tyre in FP to the softer rubber used in Qualifying is usually around two or three seconds, which suggests there should still be more time available when the cars go back out.
“The grip level is generally on the lower side. And I think in the past, the jump from Hard to Soft is usually around two or three seconds, so it is quite a big jump,” he said. “I think mainly in the traction zones and in the high-speed corners, you do gain quite a lot of grip.”
Dunne was second in the pole fight around Silverstone 12 months ago, and he said that background leaves him feeling in a good place heading into Qualifying. “If we can do the same as what we just did, then maybe that will be good enough. I'm feeling good.”
