FP1: Mercedes dominate first practice
Mercedes brushed aside their recent troubles to claim an emphatic 1-2 in the opening practice session at Silverstone with Lewis Hamilton edging Nico Rosberg.
Following the drama of Austria, it was business as usual for Mercedes as Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg took to the track at Silverstone for FP1.
The team-mates traded blows, on the timesheets and not on the track, as they vied for the top spot.
That went to Hamilton with a 1:31.654 while Rosberg was 0.033 seconds slower. Both drivers stayed on the medium tyres throughout the session.
It wasn’t all smooth running for Rosberg as, late in the session during a race simulation, he reported: “Problem with the ERS deployment.”
He also told Mercedes: “It says ‘fuel use high’ and I don’t know what that means.”
It was another close battle for third as Nico Hulkenberg, who claimed the position, was a mere 0.09s faster than Sebastian Vettel.
The Force India and the Ferrari driver both used the soft tyres for their fastest laps.
Vettel’s session ended with the German reporting a gearbox problem and limping back into the pits after the chequered flag had fallen.
Daniel Ricciardo on the mediums was sixth quickest ahead of Kimi Raikkonen on the soft tyres. The Finn made this morning’s headlines as Ferrari confirmed him for the 2017 championship.
Max Verstappen, hard tyres, finished ahead of Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz, who used the soft tyres, and Fernando Alonso with the McLaren driver running the mediums.
Charles Leclerc made his Formula 1 debut for Haas and finished P18, 1.4s slower than team-mate Romain Grosjean.
Esteban Ocon was back in action for Renault and was P19, 1.2s short of Jolyon Palmer’s best.
Times
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1’31.654 30 laps
2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1’31.687 +0.033 33 laps
3 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1’32.492 +0.838 30 laps
4 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1’32.501 +0.847 20 laps
5 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1’32.773 +1.119 30 laps
6 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1’33.039 +1.385 28 laps
7 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1’33.202 +1.548 22 laps
8 Sergio Perez Force India 1’33.235 +1.581 29 laps
9 Carlos Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso 1’33.446 +1.792 18 laps
10 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1’33.527 +1.873 22 laps
11 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1’33.738 +2.084 20 laps
12 Jenson Button McLaren 1’34.132 +2.478 24 laps
13 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1’34.263 +2.609 38 laps
14 Felipe Massa Williams 1’34.456 +2.802 34 laps
15 Romain Grosjean Haas 1’34.547 +2.893 24 laps
16 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1’34.787 +3.133 29 laps
17 Felipe Nasr Sauber 1’34.805 +3.151 21 laps
18 Charles Leclerc Haas 1’35.869 +4.215 25 laps
19 Esteban Ocon Renault 1’35.980 +4.326 31 laps
20 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1’36.003 +4.349 19 laps
21 Pascal Wehrlein Manor 1’36.136 +4.482 25 laps
22 Rio Haryanto Manor 1’36.647 +4.993 29 laps