<< Return to the news list

Bottas on top in FP1 at Silverstone

Published on 14 Jul 2017 10:19
2
By: Mason Hawker

Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas topped the timesheets after the first practice session at the British Grand Prix on Friday morning, having set a best lap time of 1:29.106 on the Soft Pirelli tyre. Home hero Lewis Hamilton was just 0.078s behind in second place, with Max Verstappen third on a track where Red Bull's chassis should help its drivers' performances. Daniel Ricciardo was fourth, with Kimi Raikkonen fifth in the leading Ferrari, just over a second behind Bottas. His team-mate Sebastian Vettel rounded out the top six, just over 1.4s off the fastest time - he had tested the new protective shield device on his initial installation lap.

Daniil Kvyat, who had a troublesome time in Austria, fared much better in this opening session and was the fastest Toro Rosso in seventh. Fernando Alonso hauled his McLaren up into eighth, but may face more of a struggle throughout the rest of the weekend as he is expected to take yet another grid penalty. Felipe Massa was ninth for Williams and the filling in a McLaren sandwich, as Stoffel Vandoorne squeezed into the top ten behind him.

The lower half of the field was headed by Kvyat's team-mate Carlos Sainz, and he was followed by the Silverstone-based Force India duo - Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez were twelfth and thirteenth respectively. Romain Grosjean took fourteenth for Haas, with Lance Stroll significantly behind his team-mate in fifteenth. Antonio Giovinazzi ended the session in sixteenth while stepping into Kevin Magnussen's Haas, ahead of the two Renaults of Nico Hulkenberg and the second British driver on the grid, Jolyon Palmer. Pascal Wehrlein and his Sauber team-mate Marcus Ericsson once again found themselves at the bottom of the table.

Mason Hawker

F1Grand Prix United Kingdom - Free practice 1

Silverstone - 14 July 2017

Driver

Team

Time

Difference

#
1

Valtteri Bottas

Mercedes

1:29.106

29
2

Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

1:29.184

+0.078

29
3

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing

1:29.604

+0.498

26
4

Daniel Ricciardo

Red Bull Racing

1:29.942

+0.836

19
5

Kimi Räikkönen

Ferrari

1:30.137

+1.031

19
6

Sebastian Vettel

Ferrari

1:30.517

+1.411

19
7

Daniil Kvyat

Toro Rosso

1:30.895

+1.789

21
8

Fernando Alonso

McLaren

1:30.993

+1.887

20
9

Felipe Massa

Williams

1:30.999

+1.893

26
10

Stoffel Vandoorne

McLaren

1:31.041

+1.935

27
11

Carlos Sainz jr

Toro Rosso

1:31.200

+2.094

24
12

Esteban Ocon

Force India

1:31.210

+2.104

32
13

Sergio Perez

Force India

1:31.297

+2.191

34
14

Romain Grosjean

Haas F1

1:31.610

+2.504

24
15

Lance Stroll

Williams

1:31.684

+2.578

24
16

Antonio Giovinazzi

Haas F1

1:32.031

+2.925

24
17

Nico Hülkenberg

Renault

1:32.171

+3.065

19
18

Jolyon Palmer

Renault

1:32.450

+3.344

16
19

Pascal Wehrlein

Sauber

1:33.029

+3.923

23
20

Marcus Ericsson

Sauber

1:33.399

+4.293

26

Photos Great Britain 2017

Open the whole photo album

F1 News Valtteri Bottas Mercedes

Replies (2)

Wolfgang

Posts: 313
good, Valtteri! Quite astonished how Red Bull performed.. Ferrari must´ve been testing something.. Don´t think the gap is that big.. :-)
- + 0
- Jul 14 2017 - 11:43
yellowfly81

Posts: 79
I hope we'll be in for a close and competitive battle!
- + 0
- Jul 14 2017 - 11:46