As if to further reduce the chances of any industrial action, Vettel denied
that the threat of a boycott had ever been the intention of Thursday night’s
statement from the GPDA.
“You must have got it wrong because we expressed that we trust Pirelli,”
Vettel told reporters after practice. “But we also expressed that should
there be an incident we would think about something like that. Fortunately,
nothing happened today and the tyres worked fine. The point was not to
threaten.”
Of more concern to Vettel on Friday was the relative strengths of everyone’s
cars. The switch to Kevlar-belted rear tyres for this race, ahead of a
planned move to 2012 tyre structures with 2013 compounds from Hungary, has
added another layer of intrigue to a season which was not exactly lacking in
that department.
There is talk of a whole new championship beginning, although it was the usual
suspects setting the pace on Friday.
Mercedes, who many expect to profit from the tyre switch – primarily because
they are believed to have already tested these tyres at their controversial
1,000km Pirelli test in Barcelona in May – duly dominated the morning
session with Lewis
Hamilton and Rosberg a full second quicker than the fastest Red Bull.
The champions came back strongly in the afternoon, though, and appeared to
have a slight edge in both one-lap and long-run pace. Then there is Ferrari,
who looked to have put their Silverstone woes behind them on Friday. Suffice
to say, no one knows quite what to expect.
“We are not getting our hopes up,” said Red Bull’s Mark Webber. “Obviously
Mercedes are more than capable of a front row lockout which we have seen for
the last few races. Seb and I looked a bit more competitive on one lap
today, but Mercedes could have put the fuel in. It is similar for the race:
Mercedes have proved in the last few weeks that they are not slow on
Sundays, so there are a few guys that are in contention for the win.”
Vettel agreed with his team-mate, claiming he was not sure where he stood in
the pecking order. “I think Mercedes were b—– quick this morning, we
couldn’t have done that,” he said. “In the afternoon I was in better shape.”
The German was booed by the British GP crowd on his last outing but showed
great dignity by entertaining those same fans at the post-race concert at
Silverstone last Sunday, playing the drums and generally taking all the
pantomime villain stuff in good spirits. He will have the whole of Germany
behind him this weekend.
The support might not work in his favour, however. Despite his enviable record
in Formula One, Vettel has never actually won his home race. In fact, he has
never won a race in the month of July.
The chances of him breaking his duck this weekend are a good deal higher than
a driver boycott, although Mercedes will surely push him all the way.