Live text
Formula 1
British GP
F1 British GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP1 & FP2
Updates for Friday practice at the Formula 1 British Grand Prix at Silverstone
Max Verstappen extended his lead in the F1 world drivers’ championship to 46 points with victory at the Canadian GP last time out, as Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez failed to finish and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc recovered to fifth place after a back of the grid penalty for an engine change.
A number of teams have delivered car upgrades ahead of the Silverstone round, which is set to play out in front of a sold-out crowd.
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton won the British GP last year, following a controversial first-corner clash with Verstappen.
Live Standings
presented by
Stopped
Summary
7 Days
08 hrs
55 min
24 sec
Live Text
Sort by
Hamilton duly pits for the softs, while both Ferraris and Bottas nip out for the final six minutes of FP1.
Stopwatch
Bottas, on the inters, goes top with a 1m42.249s.
Now there's a stampede at pit exit with the majority of drivers heading out for a late blast on soft tyres. That should mean the timing screen will chop and change all the way to the finish.
Pedal cam alert! For the first time in forever, F1 is trying out a camera focused on the car pedals, with Norris the guinea pig today.
Red flag
Red flag! Stroll has come off at Copse!
Checkered flag
That marks the end of FP1 as the session will not be resumed.
Crash
Stroll gets wide on the wet patches at Copse and loses the back end of his car, spinning him into the gravel trap, but he stops in time to avoid smacking his Aston Martin into the barrier.
Stopwatch
That means Bottas tops first practice from Hamilton, who made a late move up to second with a 1m42.781s moments before the red flag.
The worst news is confirmed: Practice starts on the grid cancelled due to the red flags. Noooo.
Twitter
So, not a great deal to learn from opening practice other than water is slippery. Just 10 drivers actually posted lap times, and Hamilton was the only driver to make it into double figures on the lap tally count.
Twitter
Breaking news
Here's the full report on that stop-start opening practice:
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-british-gp-bottas-leads-rain-hit-red-flagged-silverstone-fp1/10331045/
With that, we will take a short breather before the build-up to second practice which starts at 4pm BST. Until then, have a good one!
Hello and welcome back to Autosport's live text commentary of British Grand Prix Friday practice. Hopefully you've all recovered from the excitement earlier...
If you did miss FP1 earlier this afternoon, well you didn't miss anything really! With half of the Silverstone circuit wet and the other half dry, teams were reluctant to waste intermediate tyres, given there could be more changeable weather on the way this weekend.
Therefore only 10 drivers set any sort of lap time with the rest just completing one or two installation tours. Some drivers did switch to slicks right at the very end of the session only for Lance Stroll to be the villain of the piece as he spun at Copse and brought out the red flags, ending the session early. Cue disappointment for the 100,000-strong crowd.
That means FP2 is set to be busier than usual given the lack of running earlier and all the excitement gets under way in just 10 minutes.
Sun
And I'm pleased to report there's bright sunshine at Silverstone now, with the chance of rain estimated to be just 10% for this coming session. But this is Britain so, really, who knows?!
Breaking news
So, there's plenty of questions heading into this session - some of which we may get some answers to. The most notable being whether the raft of updates Mercedes has brought this weekend have actually made any difference as its drivers race on home soil. Here's the lowdown on the tweaks: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/mercedes-reveals-extent-of-f1-upgrades-for-british-gp/10330926/
Breaking news
It's not just Mercedes that has brought upgrades to Silverstone, Red Bull has introduced a new shelf to its engine cover. Here's why: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/hamilton-has-a-lot-more-headaches-due-to-f1-bouncing/10323729/
Breaking news
And, speaking of Red Bull, team boss Christian Horner has explained its sacking of Juri Vips from its junior programme has sent a clear message of its views towards racist behaviour, as Nelson Piquet Sr's shocking comments continue to cause anger: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/horner-red-bull-made-very-strong-statement-by-sacking-vips/10331114/
But now, for the first time this weekend - after the damp squib earlier - let's focus on the on-track action. Two minutes until FP2 begins.
Lights green
We're under way! FP2 begins and there's a stream of cars heading immediately onto the track.
We've got 14 cars already on track in this session, more than set lap times earlier!
In fact, everyone has now ventured out - so let's see how they fare on the high-speed Silverstone sweeps.
There's a range of tyres in use, mainly the mediums and hards - but Alpine and Williams have opted for the softs for these initial laps.
Quote
"There's a bit of a weird noise," reports Verstappen. But he's told to stay out and Red Bull don't seem concerned, neither does Verstappen especially.
Stopwatch
And we've got our first dry lap times on the board! It's Tsunoda currently leading the way on a 1m34.205s.
Stopwatch
But those times are pretty irrelevant as Alonso on his softs now goes top on a 1m33.066s.
Well, now it's Verstappen and Leclerc who have moved to the top - both the Red Bulls and Ferraris on the medium tyres.
Replays show Verstappen running slightly wide at Copse and kicking up the dust and sparks over the kerbs.
Meanwhile, Norris has gone straight on at Abbey, seemingly being caught out by the gusty winds.
So, after those initial laps, it's Leclerc from Sainz, Verstappen, Perez, Norris and Alonso. Mercedes drivers are yet to set a representative time, though.
Quote
"This sound is still here, it's like something is touching - I don't know what it is," says Verstappen, as he locks up and goes straight on at Village. Also reporting it's "very windy out there".
Stopwatch
Sainz has now gone to the top of the times with a 1m29.962s, while Hamilton has risen up to an encouraging third.
And we now get a first shot of pedal cam in this session - it shows how much throttle is used around Silverstone, but not a lot else...
It's getting very busy out there with Russell among those moaning about the traffic. Meanwhile, Verstappen's mystery sound doesn't seem to be holding him back as he splits the Ferraris and goes second.
Stopwatch
But that's just momentary as Leclerc now goes top with a 1m29.639s - three tenths faster than Sainz.
Russell gets blocked by Norris this time around at Luffield, meaning the Mercedes driver is currently 20th.
By: autosport.com
Published:
Page:
