Zak Brown names “very strong” Ferrari as McLaren’s main competition at F1 British GP

Zak Brown named Ferrari as McLaren’s main competition at this weekend’s F1 British Grand Prix.

Lando Norris topped the timesheets in second practice at Silverstone, 0.2s ahead of Charles Leclerc.

Lewis Hamilton made it to two Ferraris in the top three, which capped off a strong session for the Italian team.

Ferrari introduced a revised floor last time out in Austria.

Ferrari were the second-fastest team, with Leclerc scoring his fourth podium of the year.

However, Leclerc was a distant third at the Red Bull Ring, 20 seconds behind race winner Norris.

Speaking during FP2, Brown identified Ferrari as being “very strong”.

“That was a good lap,” Brown said of Norris’ best lap of FP2.

“The Ferraris look very strong. Both over one lap and over race pace. A little bit early but it looks like Ferrari is the competition so far.”

“Ferrari look very strong. They were very good in the first session. Both cars are strong. Race pace is good. They look very tough.”

Brown assesses Red Bull

It wasn’t an entirely smooth session for Max Verstappen and Red Bull.

Verstappen ended FP2 in fifth place, nearly 0.5s off Norris’ top time.

The Dutchman’s pace on the long runs was more encouraging, with Verstappen’s pace on a par with the McLarens and Ferraris.

Throughout the season, Red Bull have tended to make significant improvements overnight to get Verstappen into the fight for pole position.

Sky Sports pundit Anthony Davidson noted Verstappen had severe understeer in high-speed corners.

Assessing Verstappen’s chances, Brown added: “Every time Max looks like he’s struggling a bit he puts it together.

“It does look a bit tough for them for now but based on my experience you never rule Max Verstappen out.”