Lewis Hamilton has warned that power unit management and deployment issues will radically alter the racing experience at Silverstone ahead of this weekend’s British Grand Prix.
The seven-time World Champion is the most successful driver in the event’s history.
However, unique technical hurdles regarding energy management are set to transform how drivers approach the circuit’s iconic, high-speed layout this year.
Responding to a question about how power deployment limits will impact the circuit’s legendary corners, Hamilton offered a stark assessment of the challenge ahead.
“Honestly, I think it’s going to be huge,” Hamilton told media including Motorsport Week.
“It’s going to be, if you look at the speed tracers, we started losing deployment going into Copse, then we ended screaming as you go into Copes and you’re holding on for dear life as you go through there, but this year the engine will be coasting down, most likely we’ll be downshifting from 7th to 8th whilst full throttle trying to keep the engine revs higher, it’ll be a long, long straight from 9th to 10th with no deployment basically.
Hamilton hopes for improvement
“And then Maggots and Becketts, it’s not going to feel the same, because I think you have to lift a coast or something through there for a period of time, so it’s just a completely different track.
“We’ll see tomorrow, maybe we’ll still, no doubt we’ll still get to it,” Hamilton added.
“We’ll enjoy it through certain elements of the track where you’re not power limited, but the best part of the track is those Maggots and Becketts, and Copse, and Stowe, and in other places the power has just dropped me, and so I hope it’s something that can be rectified for next year.”
Drivers will get their first taste of these deployment challenges during tomorrow’s opening practice sessions as teams scramble to optimise their energy recovery strategies for the rest of the weekend.
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