Lando Norris led Lance Stroll in FP1 of F1 British GP, with Oscar Piastri ending up third but the tyres were different across the field.
Even though rain was expected in FP1 of F1 British GP at Silverstone, it mostly stayed away apart from some drizzle. It was overcast still, with the conditions far cooler than it would be normally as different tyre compounds were put in use across the field.
The Top 3 saw them set their fast lap on the soft tyre with McLaren’s Lando Norris setting the pace with a 1m27.420s lap in FP1 of F1 British GP, with teammate Oscar Piastri in third behind Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, where all three had their moments.
Norris had a very late one against Red Bull FP1 sub Isack Hadjar, who did not see the Brit coming through. The McLaren driver had to venture on the grass and brake hard to avoid colliding, as Hadjar readily apologised for his mistake.
Piastri, meanwhile, had a late hydraulic issue and stopped at pit entry to be pushed into the pitlane. Stroll had Ferrari drivers get slightly impeded midway in the session – the impeding will be investigated after the session as noted by the stewards.
Behind the Top 3, it was Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in fourth on the medium compound. Mercedes’ George Russell was fifth with teammate Lewis Hamilton seventh behind Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso where the Spaniard used the soft tyres unlike others around.
The Ferrari pair of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz ended up eighth and ninth, with the former on the medium tyre and the latter on the hard. The Top 10 was rounded out by Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, who set his best time on the soft tyre.
Continuing the trend of lead cars, it was Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg in 11th ahead of Stake F1 Team’s Valtteri Bottas and Visa Cash App RB’s Daniel Ricciardo. The soon-to-be full-time F1 driver Oliver Bearman was 14th in the Haas, with Stake’s Zhou Guanyu in 15th.
The first of Williams was Alexander Albon in 16th from Alpine’s sub Jack Doohan, who had a delayed run due to issue on the left side. The other Williams of Franco Colapinto was 18th ahead of Red Bull’s Hadjar, with Visa Cash App RB’s Yuki Tsunoda in 20th.
Everyone from 11th until 18th set their time on the soft tyre, witg Hadjar on medium and Tsunoda unable to get a good lap time after spinning off on the gravel causing a red flag and ending his session quite early in the run.
UPDATE: The FIA stewards formally warned both Stroll and Hadjar for impeding Leclerc and Norris respectively in FP1. On top of that, they fined Aston Martin with €15,000 and Red Bull with €20,000 for the offence.
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