Tyre problems thwart top finish at rainy Silverstone
Jeffrey Schmidt experienced a weekend of ups and downs at the ‘Home of British Motor Racing’. As the fourth fixture of the 2016 Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup got underway at Silverstone, the Swiss driver and his car were in equally good form. Outstanding lap times in free practice and fourth place in qualifying promised a highly satisfactory outcome. On race day, however, the weather did not play along and the heavens opened. The 22-year-old and his Lechner Racing Middle East team did not get the tyre pressure right for the conditions and paid the price. But showing tremendous fighting spirit, Schmidt still finished eighth and scored some vital points.
Although you hadn’t done any testing at Silverstone, you still managed to display your skill and the pace of the car by qualifying fourth.
Absolutely! We were going at arrow-like speed at the beginning of the weekend – even without prior testing. Our times in free practice suggested that we were in for a good qualifying result. I was in fourth place on the timesheet, but my fastest lap was disallowed, as I had crossed the track limits. The fact that we weren’t on the ideal tyres in this session and yet our pace was superb made us very confident. It was the right decision to stay out on the track in qualifying, and we had the tyres for it. For quite a while, I was up among the Top Three and was relegated to fourth with only a few minutes remaining. Not for the first time, I was ‘Best of the Rest’ behind the three official Porsche Juniors, a result with which I can feel satisfied.
In the race, however, you suddenly lacked the pace. What happened there?
Shortly before the start of the race, a solitary storm cloud passed directly over the track, and it started to rain heavily during our formation lap. The start was delayed, and we were all allowed to switch to wets. When action was resumed, the track was already drying out again, so we didn’t have the ideal conditions for the soft compound of the rain tyres. From Lap 2, I just went backwards through the field. Unfortunately, we had taken the completely wrong decision on tyre pressure and were defenceless against the opposition. For me, it was just a matter of damage limitation and somehow getting the car across the line in a points-scoring position. To sum up the weekend, we deserved more than we got.
How did the miscalculation regarding tyre pressure come about?
It was the first Porsche Supercup race this kind of conditions. Unfortunately, our engineer, my team-mates and I have been unable to gain any experience with the new rain tyres, and that blunted our efforts. A lot of the other teams have already had the chance to try out the tyres in national Cups, for example in France – not us, unfortunately. In the changing conditions, the tyre pressure we chose made driving extremely difficult. It almost felt like we were on raw eggs. Consequently, we were unable to keep up the pace, and both I and my team-mate (Michael Ammermüller) were overtaken. It’s a pity that this error of judgment undid all our good work over the weekend. In a dry race – or at least one in which we had the correct tyre pressure – we could certainly have been contenders for the podium.
In regard to the championship, however, the weekend was actually quite positive. You’ve moved up to fourth place…
It obviously wasn’t ideal that my main rivals shared out the podium positions among themselves. Fortunately, three guest drivers ahead of me were ineligible for points, which meant I was classified fifth. Consequently, I can look on the bright side of the whole situation. We’ve had only four races, so we’re not even halfway through the season. I’m within striking distance, and if just one of the Top Three failed to finish in the next race, I would immediately be back in the reckoning. Especially as we have some venues coming up where we tend to do well – Budapest, Hockenheim, Spa-Francorchamps and Monza. We’ve been strong there in testing and also in last year’s races. There is still everything to play for!
Before your next outing in the Supercup, you have the Carrera Cup at Zandvoort this coming weekend. What are your expectations for the Netherlands?
To be honest, I have to admit that Zandvoort is not necessarily one of my favourite tracks. I can’t pin down the reason why, but other tracks suit me better. Nevertheless, it’s another opportunity, and as always, I’ll be giving it my best shot. The objective now is to score decent points and put on a good show. That’s what I have to focus on.
