Renault Formula 1 driver Carlos Sainz Jr. says he "feels sorry" for MotoGP riders who are due to race at Silverstone next month, as the newly resurfaced circuit is "even bumpier than last year".
Silverstone and the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya were both fully resurfaced this year after requests from MotoGP to iron out bumps, often caused by heavy use, particularly from repeat F1 weekends.
However Sainz says the bumps have increased at Silverstone and a number of drivers were caught out in both F1 and Formula 2 practice on Friday.
"[It’s] very weird I was expecting a resurface like my friends in Barcelona did," said the Spaniard. "They did an amazing job, even too much of a good job because the track was actually like ice and very grippy and no bumps at all.
Related: Lewis Hamilton compares 'bumpy' Silverstone to the famous Nordschleife
"But here I’m surprised we found probably a step in grip that we found in Barcelona, the grippier surface. But as bumpy or even bumpier than last year.
"For me it’s not a big problem I just feel sorry for the MotoGP guys that asked for this change and they probably are not going to get what they wanted."
Sainz was however happy with his and Renault's progress on the opening day of the British Grand Prix.
"It was productive, positive in a way, we’ve had a better Friday than we have in the last couple of races where we’ve tended to struggle on Fridays and suddenly turn things round for Saturday.
"We were very keen to do a lot of laps today, keeping the track with a bit better baseline to work for the rest of the weekend. It definitely felt like today the balance was more together than on Friday in Austria and Paul Ricard."
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