Yamaha riders came to Silverstone fresh from tests at Misano with renewed hopes, after the “bottom of our crisis” management apology greeted their worst-yet performance at the Austrian GP.

There were no new parts at the tests, but clearly some demonstration of a more positive attitude towards solving the problems.

As importantly, unlike the Red Bull Ring’s several slow corners followed by long straights, the much more complex layout of the highly technical Silverstone circuit put less emphasis on the M-1’s persistent wheelspin and weak acceleration and instead played to its strength of good corner speed.

“On paper, we should be stronger here than the last few races,” said Rossi on Thursday evening.

In the first free practice the proof was readily forthcoming, with Vinales fastest and Rossi second.

By Michael Scott