“Very competitive” Ferrari is McLaren's biggest threat…

While McLaren looks like the team to beat at this weekend’s Formula 1 British Grand Prix, the improved performance of Ferrari has piqued the attention of its rivals.

Following a considerable upgrade to its floor ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix, Ferrari has shown improvements, and both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton have been pleased with the results.

Leclerc split the McLarens by starting second at the Red Bull Ring last weekend before taking third, while Hamilton enjoyed his best grand prix qualifying since his switch to the Scuderia, starting and finishing fourth.

The pace remained in Friday practice at Silverstone, as Hamilton topped FP1 before finishing third in FP2 with Leclerc second to Lando Norris’ McLaren.

It left the field expressing their surprise at Ferrari’s turnaround, given two races ago in Canada there had been reports from Italian media that the squad was in turmoil and team boss Fred Vasseur was set to be the fall guy.

FP2 pace-setter Norris highlighted the threat of Ferrari when speaking after the session – Hamilton and Leclerc seemingly taking the place of Red Bull and Max Verstappen as the main concern for the dominant McLarens.

“In general, the Ferraris have been very, very quick today and they shall be tomorrow,” said Norris, who is second in the championship and won in Austria last time out.

Lando Norris, McLaren (Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images)

“So I think we have a bit of work to do. To be honest, it looks maybe a bit too good today. Like always, Ferrari catch up into P3 like they did last weekend. So, yeah, I was pleased with today, but nothing to be too proud about just yet.”

Championship leader and fellow McLaren man Oscar Piastri, who finished third and fourth in FP1 and FP2, echoed the opinion of Norris, saying: “Yeah, a good first day, I think. Ferrari have looked very competitive, but I think we looked alright.

“FP2, the soft tyre was a little bit messy for me, but I think the potential is definitely there and the long runs look pretty solid as well. So yeah, an interesting first day and I think a lot of competition.”

While McLaren will remain confident it can keep an improved Ferrari at bay, the positive performance gains could spell trouble for the likes of Mercedes – with George Russell often vying for ‘best of the rest’.

“For sure, Ferrari have really turned it up for the last couple of races,” conceded Russell. “They've been strong in race pace all season really, but they've been having bad qualifying.

"But I think now that we're entering summer, everyone's overheating a little bit more, and we've really taken a step backwards, and they've taken a step forward purely because of the temperature.

“So that's probably not great for them for some reasons, but it's definitely not great for us for other reasons too.

“Anyway, I'm enjoying being here in Silverstone, enjoying seeing all the fans. I love this race weekend, and I just hope it can improve for the rest of the week.”