Maverick Vinales says Suzuki is MotoGP's champion of Fridays

Vinales was fastest in opening practice for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, the fourth Friday session he has topped since the Barcelona round in June, and then second in the afternoon running.

Fourth at Barcelona is his best race result in that string of five grands prix, with Suzuki and Vinales hurt in races by diminishing rear grip in hotter conditions and the rain.

A new frame has been introduced in that time in a bid to solve the "nightmare" situation but Vinales still dropped nearly 10 seconds over the final seven laps of the Red Bull Ring race last month to finish a distant sixth.

"We are really the champions of the Friday!" Vinales said. "Always first or second.

"But honestly we improved a lot. Today we were working for the race, the second practice we did nearly all of the practice on used tyres, trying to understand the tyres and the electronics.

"I want to be ready for the last part of the race. In Austria we missed that and here I don't want to not take profit of what we learned in Austria.

"I know that still we have a lot to improve, and I know that it was a really fast lap time - I improved three tenths on my best lap time last year in qualifying, so that's a good thing."

Vinales changed his approach at Brno, to focus on race pace on Friday, and said he only used a new tyre late in Silverstone's second practice to ensure he is in the top 10 - and in possession of a provisional Q2 spot - in the event of rain on Saturday.

The 21-year-old finished the day 0.300 seconds slower than Ducati's Andrea Iannone and does not believe Suzuki's form is entirely down to the cool conditions.

"I don't think so," he said.

"In Brno I was feeling good and also in FP4 I was quite fast with used tyres.

"The bike feels really good and I can push with confidence. But we will see.

"Always when it's cold, we are in the front."