Max Verstappen finished fastest in the first practice session of the 2020 Great Britain Grand Prix for Red Bull, as Nico Hulkenberg, who replaced Sergio Pérez at Racing Point for this race, made his first appearance in an F1 session since the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last year.
The absence of Sergio Pérez, due to a positive Covid-19 test, was the big news before this race, before the former Renault and Force India racer Hulkenberg was called at the last minute to replace him. The German was one of the first drivers to leave the garage when the session started and finished ninth fastest on his return.
READ MORE: How the Hulkenberg Racing Point Emergency Agreement Came About, and Why He’s the Right Man for the Job
Session leader Verstappen used soft tires to show breakneck pace for Red Bull, setting a time 0.474s faster than Lewis Hamilton and another tenth ahead of Racing Point’s Lance Stroll third place with about 30 minutes to go. the remaining 90 minute session. Verstappen’s time of 1m27.422s was seven tenths faster than that of his teammate as Alex Albon finished fourth.
Hamilton had a new MGU-K installed in his W11 this weekend in a Mercedes preemptive move, but he will not receive a grid penalty as he is still within the allowable range for the season. The fastest FP1 time of the 2019 race winner was set in the media, while third place Stroll managed to finish 0.582s off the beat, in softs for Racing Points.
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one Max Verstappen SEE Red bull racing |
1: 27,422 |
|
two Luis Hamilton HAM Mercedes |
+ 0.474s |
|
3 spear Walk STR Racing point |
+ 0.582s |
|
4 4 Alexander Albon SUNRISE Red bull racing |
+ 0.707s |
|
5 5 Charles Leclerc LEC Ferrari |
+ 0.799s |
FP1 Highlights: 2020 British Grand Prix
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was trapped in the garage for FP1 with an intercooler problem in his SF1000 car and did not complete timed laps, but will race in FP2 according to the team. As a result, he held the standings while teammate Charles Leclerc completed the top five with a 0.799 deficit on Verstappen.
Valtteri Bottas was the first driver more than a second from Verstappen’s place as he concentrated on long runs on hard compound tires for Mercedes.
READ MORE: Bottas looks forward to a smooth weekend at the British GP while confirming a feeding mistake in Hungary
The Renault duo finished behind Bottas with Esteban Ocon seventh, just under 0.020 seconds faster than Daniel Ricciardo eighth.
Hulkenberg, running in an FP1 session for the first time since last year, was just 0.6 seconds from his teammate Stroll. He spent 45 minutes in the Racing Point simulator on Friday morning, before jumping into the car for FP1, after testing negative for coronavirus before entering the paddock.
Great Britain 2020: turn of Raikkonen and Giovinazzi
Rounding out the top 10 was AlphaTauri’s Daniil Kvyat, who was a mustache quicker than his 11th-place teammate, Pierre Gasly. McLaren had Carlos Sainz 11th ahead of Lando Norris at P12. Team Principal Andreas Seidl said the team had brought updates to the floor and front wing and was running an “intensive” program in FP1 to make sure the parts were working as planned.
The Alfa Romeo duo had a hectic session, with Kimi Raikkonen, P18, leaving in Luffield (Turn 7) moments before Antonio Giovinazzi, P17, turned spectacularly at Chapel (Turn 13) and then rejoined the track in a rain of gravel, rubber and carbon fiber behind your C39.
CLOCK: Nico Hulkenberg returns to the track in F1 after a last-minute call to replace Perez
That sparked a 12-minute red flag with just over an hour remaining and the Italian has been summoned by the stewards, who were not impressed by his efforts to slowly care for the car back to the pits after the incident.
As for Williams, George Russell finished 17th when he returned to Silverstone for his second Grand Prix at home, and rookie Nicholas Latifi finished 19th against Vettel, who is in a garage.
