'Silverstone is less special this year' - F1 stars echo same regulations concerns ahead of British GP

Multiple Formula 1 drivers have voiced concerns that super-clipping and a lack of electrical power will be a significant issue at the British Grand Prix, with Alex Albon claiming the problem will make Silverstone "less special". 

Super-clipping was a significant problem across the opening rounds of the Formula 1 season, with fans and drivers alike complaining about cars losing power or lifting and coasting into corners after running out of electrical energy to deploy.

The problem has not been in evidence across recent weekends, and despite the FIA making changes that have eased the issue, the track layouts have also played a part in this, with the Red Bull Ring, Barcelona, and particularly Monaco, being far less energy-starved than some of the opening venues. 

However, Silverstone has few heavy braking points, meaning that drivers will struggle to refill their batteries, unless they lift and coast through traditionally high-speed corners like Maggots and Becketts. 

"There aren't really many high-speed corners anymore in Formula 1," Albon told media, including Crash.net. 

"You arrive so slowly to them that the speeds themselves are low. So you would think of Silverstone as a high-speed track, but actually, if you look at the corner speeds now, it's more of a medium-speed circuit. 

"So I think there's been some talk on what we can do last minute just to help some of this deployment going into especially sector two. Once you get through Turn 6-7, and you lack any braking all the way into Turn 15. Clearly, the battery's pretty depleted very quickly and then you're struggling from there on."

Asked if the management just makes his weekend boring, Albon added: "Not boring. It's just that Silverstone has always been special. It's less special when you don't have the kind of speed that you feel through some of the high-speed corners."

While acknowledging the steps that the FIA has taken to limit the problems, Albon was forthright when pressed as to whether iconic tracks such as Spa Francorchamps, Suzuka, and Silverstone, will lose their character. 

"It's already happened," he said. "I think, if you look at Melbourne, Turn 9-Turn 10, Suzuka, 130R, so it's there. It has happened.

"But it's just what we have, realistically. I've said it before, but the FIA and Formula 1 are still taking good steps. They are still actively trying to help the situation and even had conversations over the last few days."

Having completed laps on the simulator to get a feel of what to expect this weekend, Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc was in complete agreement with his Williams counterpart. 

"I think most of the drivers probably feel a bit sad seeing the trace, also trying the track at the simulator," he said. 

"These were tracks where we were actually thinking that the bravest one in qualifying will make a difference, because you get into the high-speed corners with quite a lot of power, and you need to play with the limit of the car at very high speed. 

"Now, the high-speed corners are more of medium-speed corners because we have a lot of clipping, so I don't know exactly what to expect. I have an idea, but I'm pretty sure it won't feel as special as it used to."

"Hopefully it's not as bad as everyone thinks" - Franco Colapinto concedes super-clipping fear

With many drivers not holding back on their concerns for the British Grand Prix, Alpine driver Franco Colapinto was less negative in his comments, despite agreeing that energy management will be an issue. 

"I think before the year started, we already knew that Silverstone, Australia, Japan, were going to be tracks that were going to be difficult with energy, and that we were going to be running out, and with so long straights and with no braking at all, [because] you're flat for 2km or something like that. I think better we drive on track and then we will understand a bit more, but it's not going to be as it was last year."

Asked if he will be lifting on straights to replenish his battery power, Colapinto added: "We will not be lifting, because of the way that the regs changed helped us to stay flat and not gain so much by lifting like earlier in the year [when] we had to lift on purpose to gain energy back, and that was a way of maximising the straights. 

"I think now with the harvest reduced, it helps us to stay flat. But on the other hand, because we clip so much, we will arrive slow, and that's going to make the corner easier.

"But as I said before, it was one of the three or four tracks that we said are going to be tough ones in terms of energy, and I think that it's going to be [like that]. So, let's see tomorrow, and hopefully, it's not as bad as everyone thinks."

As for Sergio Perez, the Cadillac driver expects that driving slower around the corners will, in fact, make a driver faster across a whole lap distance.

"It's really [a matter of] what's more optimal for the engine, for the energy," he said. 

"Sometimes I think we're going to be finding a case where probably going slower through the corner ultimately will be faster. Delaying the throttle application and doing that sort of game will be quite critical around here."