Great Britain – Free Practice 1: Hamilton strikes hard right from the start, Grosjean too
Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time in the first practice session of the British Grand Prix, ahead of his teammate Valtteri Bottas and quite a distance ahead of the two Ferraris. After an hour of the session, Romain Grosjean faced his old demons and crashed his Haas into the tire walls at the first corner.
For once, the weather is unusually fine in the English sky for the first free practice session of the British Grand Prix at the legendary Silverstone circuit.
The air, however, remains cool late in the morning, with the temperature struggling to reach 20 degrees. But the track is already starting to heat up, nearing 32 degrees at the beginning of the session.
As a reminder, Pirelli’s tire selection for this weekend is quite original since the Soft, Medium, and Hard compounds are being offered by the Italian manufacturer. Will last year’s pole time be beaten with this choice? Lewis Hamilton had set the fastest lap with a 1:26.600.
The session begins with Marcus Ericsson’s Sauber as the first to hit the track. Once again, a series of grids and sensors are noticeable on the McLarens to measure the aerodynamic efficiency of the MCL33… to say that the engineers from Woking are somewhat lost, there’s just a step that the English press does not hesitate to take.
The usual start to #FP1 for the team with install laps, checks and sharing feedback with the engineers before getting the run plan underway. #BritishGP pic.twitter.com/ZHlqg75bT4
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) 6 juillet 2018
In terms of new developments, the Red Bull team has brought a brand-new front wing! It will be tested on track during this first free practice session to confirm whether it will be used for the rest of the weekend. It seems to be working for Max Verstappen, who sets the first benchmark time at 1:29.469, ahead of the two Ferraris of Kimi Räikkönen and Sebastian Vettel.
The situation is hardly improving for Williams and Sergey Sirotkin, who is having great difficulty keeping his car on the track. A brief excursion into the gravel at the last corner punctuates the Russian’s first fast lap.
An unwanted detour for @sirotkin_sergey – into the gravel trap at the final corner #BritishGP 🇬🇧 #F1 pic.twitter.com/wNMBa6CISo
— Formula 1 (@F1) 6 juillet 2018
After half an hour of the session, it’s Lewis Hamilton who puts his Mercedes on Medium tires at the top of the timing sheet with a lap of 1:28.908. He leads Vettel, Verstappen, and Räikkönen while Valtteri Bottas in the other Mercedes is slightly behind, 0.7 seconds off his teammate. It should be noted that the Finnish driver’s power unit has been completely changed this weekend following the issues encountered at the last Austrian Grand Prix. This brings him to the limit of 3 engines allowed per season. The penalty period is likely to start quite early this year!
All the drivers, except for Fernando Alonso, set a time in the first half-hour. The Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull unsurprisingly occupy the top 6 places, but behind them, a fierce battle against the clock is unfolding between the Force India and Haas teams, pulling slightly ahead of the competition comprising Toro Rosso, Renault, and Sauber. Esteban Ocon, Romain Grosjean, Sergio Pérez, and Kevin Magnussen complete the Top 10.
The Dane, in fact, is making headlines again after a confrontation with Alonso. The Spaniard complains about the behavior of the Haas driver who allegedly hit him twice without reason…
Things are getting a bit testy between @alo_oficial and @KevinMagnussen (again)
📻Alonso claims the Dane tried to hit him at Turns 1 and 3
Could make for an interesting weekend 😮#BritishGP 🇬🇧 #F1 pic.twitter.com/adzqTxnNL2
— Formula 1 (@F1) 6 juillet 2018
At mid-session, among the front-runners, only Daniel Ricciardo did not set his best lap on Medium tires. The Australian used only hard tires, marking their first appearance this year. Some other drivers, in the second part of the standings, fitted Soft tires, and it took until the last half-hour, with Bottas’s first attempt, to see this compound on the fastest cars.
The Finn immediately secures the best time with a lap of 1:28.143, putting more than 1 second on the Ferraris! Hamilton mimics his teammate but falls short by one hundredth of a second.
While he briefly climbed to a commendable 4th place, Romain Grosjean lost control of his car at the exit of turn 1. He hit the tire wall and broke his left front suspension. The Frenchman got out of his car without any problem, but his morning session was over! The virtual safety car was deployed to clear the Haas. The DRS in this new portion of the track was said to be the cause of Grosjean’s off-track excursion, and he apologized profusely over the radio to his team.
VIRTUAL SAFETY CAR@RGrosjean is in the barriers at Turn 1 😖#BritishGP 🇬🇧 #F1 pic.twitter.com/vj3F8nI8mX
— Formula 1 (@F1) 6 juillet 2018
After the evacuation of the Haas, the session resumes and Hamilton does not wait long to improve his own time to 1:27.487, placing Vettel’s Ferrari in 3rd, half a second behind. It is known that, traditionally since the start of the season, the Scuderia hides its performance during free practice to show its true potential in qualifying and especially in race pace, but at home, Hamilton already seems slightly ahead of the pack at the start of the weekend.
At the end of the session, Kimi Räikkönen makes a slight off-road excursion without any incident while, miracle at Silverstone, Fernando Alonso finally sets a time, the 18th in 1:30.896… The Spaniard is at full attack and nearly loses control of his McLaren at turn 13. Fortunately, the escape route is there! It’s hardly better for Stoffel Vandoorne, only 16th…
Not where we want to see Kimi
A BIG spin for the Finn 🔄#BritishGP 🇬🇧 #F1 pic.twitter.com/pKVSNVNR8k
— Formula 1 (@F1) 6 juillet 2018
The misfortunes of McLaren nevertheless benefit the competition, as exemplified by Lance Stroll, who surprises everyone by placing his Williams in the Top 10 at the expense of the Renaults of Carlos Sainz and Nico Hülkenberg, who were somewhat behind in this first session.
This race ended under a virtual safety car regime after Max Verstappen stopped his Red Bull not far from the pit lane due to a hydraulic problem with his car.
The full classification of FP1:
FP1 CLASSIFICATION (90/90 MINS): @MercedesAMGF1 lead the way #BritishGP 🇬🇧 #F1 pic.twitter.com/KTOrDQ0vK3
— Formula 1 (@F1) 6 juillet 2018
