British GP: Hamilton pips Mercedes F1 team-mate Rosberg in FP1
Lewis Hamilton narrowly pipped Mercedes Formula 1 team-mate Nico Rosberg to top spot in first practice for the British Grand Prix
Under cloudy skies at Silverstone, with both air and track temperatures low, both Hamilton and Rosberg ran only F1's medium-compound tyres during the 90 minutes.
The duo traded fast laps early, before Hamilton posted the quickest time of 1m31.654s, finishing just 0.033 seconds clear of Rosberg.
Both drivers set times faster than Hamilton's 2015 pole lap - 1m32.248s - and completed the session with long runs on used mediums, Rosberg doing a 23-lap stint and Hamilton 20.
Mercedes' nearest rivals were again some distance off the pace, with Force India's Nico Hulkenberg and Sebastian Vettel in his Ferrari just over eight tenths down.
Hulkenberg finished just 0.009s clear of fellow German Vettel who offered a glimpse of the updated halo cockpit protection device with a single installation lap at the start of the session.
In contrast to Hamilton and Rosberg, Vettel did not use the medium-compound tyre at any stage, instead starting out on the hards before concluding with softs.
The rest of the field were then all more than one second off the pace, headed by Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo and Kimi Raikkonen, who was confirmed as a Ferrari driver for 2017 before practice.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez for Force India, Carlos Sainz Jr in his Toro Rosso and McLaren's Fernando Alonso were all two seconds inside Hamilton's leading time, as they completed the top 10.
Beyond that, Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat was 11th quickest, with Jenson Button next up for McLaren, while Williams pair Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa had to settle for a lowly 13th and 14th.
In his first run in an F1 car on a grand prix weekend, driving Esteban Gutierrez's Haas, Charles Leclerc had a spin early on his way to the 18th-fastest time, 4.2s off the pace.
Renault also fielded its reserve in Mercedes junior Esteban Ocon, with the 19-year-old Frenchman a tenth of a second down on Leclerc in 19th.
FIRST PRACTICE RESULTS:
Pos | Driver | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1m31.654s | - | 30 |
2 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1m31.687s | 0.033s | 34 |
3 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India/Mercedes | 1m32.492s | 0.838s | 30 |
4 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1m32.501s | 0.847s | 20 |
5 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull/Renault | 1m32.773s | 1.119s | 30 |
6 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1m33.039s | 1.385s | 28 |
7 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull/Renault | 1m33.202s | 1.548s | 22 |
8 | Sergio Perez | Force India/Mercedes | 1m33.235s | 1.581s | 30 |
9 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Toro Rosso/Ferrari | 1m33.446s | 1.792s | 19 |
10 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren/Honda | 1m33.527s | 1.873s | 22 |
11 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso/Ferrari | 1m33.738s | 2.084s | 20 |
12 | Jenson Button | McLaren/Honda | 1m34.132s | 2.478s | 24 |
13 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams/Mercedes | 1m34.263s | 2.609s | 38 |
14 | Felipe Massa | Williams/Mercedes | 1m34.456s | 2.802s | 34 |
15 | Romain Grosjean | Haas/Ferrari | 1m34.547s | 2.893s | 24 |
16 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 1m34.787s | 3.133s | 29 |
17 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber/Ferrari | 1m34.805s | 3.151s | 21 |
18 | Charles Leclerc | Haas/Ferrari | 1m35.869s | 4.215s | 26 |
19 | Esteban Ocon | Renault | 1m35.980s | 4.326s | 31 |
20 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber/Ferrari | 1m36.003s | 4.349s | 19 |
21 | Pascal Wehrlein | Manor/Mercedes | 1m36.136s | 4.482s | 25 |
22 | Rio Haryanto | Manor/Mercedes | 1m36.647s | 4.993s | 29 |
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