Valtteri Bottas commemorated his brand new Mercedes contract for 2021 by heading the first Free Practice session of the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix weekend, pipping group mate Lewis Hamilton by 0.138 s, with Red Bulls Max Verstappen 0.727 s behind Bottas in P3.
At a balmy Silverstone, with air temperature level up around 28 degrees Celsius, British Grand Prix winner Hamilton was initially the faster of the two Mercedes. Bottas, lapping on the C4 soft tires which Pirelli have actually been brought in for this weekend, beat him on his 2nd flying lap, eventually stopping the clocks with a 1m 26.166 s, over a 2nd quicker than Verstappen handled in FP1 at the track last week.
Verstappens time for 3rd meanwhile, was simply 0.049 s quicker than Racing Points Nico Hulkenberg. Its been rather the early morning for both the chauffeur and the team, with Hulkenberg confirmed as Sergio Perezs replacement for this weekend two hours prior to the session start after another favorable Covid-19 test for the Mexican– while Renaults protest versus Racing Points RP20 was upheld in the lead-up to FP1, costing the team EUR400,000 and 15 manufacturers champion points.
FOUND OUT MORE: Racing Point subtracted 15 points and fined heavily as Renault protest into car legality upheld
1
Valtteri
Bottas
BOT
Mercedes
1:26.166
2
+0.138 s.
Lewis
Hamilton
HAM
Mercedes
3.
Max.
Verstappen.
VER.
Red Bull Racing.
+0.727 s.
4.
Nico.
Hulkenberg.
HUL.
Racing Point.
+0.776 s.
5.
Between those two chauffeurs, Charles Leclerc was 5th for Ferrari, ahead of the Red Bull of Alex Albon– who complained of understeer– and the 2nd Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel, the four-time champ when again looking the less comfortable of the 2 Scuderia drivers with the teams low-downforce set-up on the SF1000.
+0.896 s.
FP1 Highlights: 70th Anniversary Grand Prix.
Charles.
Leclerc.
LEC.
Ferrari.
Following his huge crash at last weekends British Grand Prix– which led to a tyre barrier being installed at the exit of Maggotts– Daniil Kvyat was ninth for AlphaTauri, ahead of the Renault of Esteban Ocon in 10th.
It was therefore a specifically excellent session from Hulkenberg, who took 4th while team mate Lance Stroll might only manage P8, nearly six-tenths off the German.
Theres most likely more to come from Renaults Daniel Ricciardo too, after the Australian, who finished P4 last weekend, could just manage P17.
Meanwhile, there seems more to come from McLaren, after the team– who had both chauffeurs in Q3 last weekend– could not split the leading 10 in FP1, Lando Norris taking P12, while Carlos Sainz was P14, with Sainzs sparring partner from last weekend Romain Grosjean in between for Haas– and P6 to P16 covered by less than a 2nd.
70th Anniversary GP FP1: Mercedes run Sir Stirling Moss homage.
So, its Mercedes who, rather unsurprisingly, strike the very first blow of the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix weekend. There looks to be a fascinating scrap for the second-best team brewing this weekend between Red Bull and that controversial Racing Point, with Ferrari in touching distance too judging by the evidence of FP1. Lets see how that pans out across the rest of Friday.
LEARNT MORE: Mercedes to run Stirling Moss horseshoe homage on Bottas and Hamiltons vehicles this weekend.
George Russell was when again the lead Williams motorist in P15, just one area in front of group mate Nicholas Latifi, as the Grove team want to attempt and crack Q2 for the 4th race in a row as soon as certifying starts on Saturday.
Bringing up the rear of the field, on the other hand, Kimi Raikkonen conquered a small off at Aintree– an off that Vettel replicated later on in the session– to end up in P18, ahead of Robert Kubica, who took over the C39 of Antonio Giovinazzi this early morning, while Haas Kevin Magnussen was last, after the Dane went off at Vale and flat-spotted his tire on his push lap.
