Bottas heads Mercedes 1-2 in first practice

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F1 Grand Prix, GP United Kingdom, Silverstone Circuitgb

Austrian GP race winner Valtteri Bottas topped the first free practice session at Silverstone, edging out his British Mercedes team mate by 0.078s. Neither Mercedes driver used the supersoft tyres whereas the Red Bull duo did.

That duo was headed by Max Verstappen, ending half a second behind, and still 4 tenths up on Daniel Ricciardo.

Kimi Raikkonen was the fastest Ferrari in 5th, ahead of Sebastian Vettel. It was the latter however who drew the attention to him as the German was the first to get a taste of the 'Shield' cockpit protection system. The current championship leader completed a few laps with the prototype device before it was removed and Ferrari continued with their normal running.

Daniil Kvyat was 7th fastest, ahead of Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard, again using Honda's 'Spec 3' engine already knows he'll had to start from the back of the grid due to penalties for power unit element changes beyond the allowed 4 per season.

Felipe Massa was 9th fastest, with Stoffel Vandoorne in 10th for McLaren-Honda.

Results

Pos.No.DriverCarTimeGapLaps
177Valtteri BottasMercedes1:29.106-29
244Lewis HamiltonMercedes1:29.184+0.078s29
333Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing Tag Heuer1:29.604+0.498s26
43Daniel RicciardoRed Bull Racing Tag Heuer1:29.942+0.836s19
57Kimi RäikkönenFerrari1:30.137+1.031s19
65Sebastian VettelFerrari1:30.517+1.411s19
726Daniil KvyatToro Rosso1:30.895+1.789s21
814Fernando AlonsoMcLaren Honda1:30.993+1.887s20
919Felipe MassaWilliams Mercedes1:30.999+1.893s26
102Stoffel VandoorneMcLaren Honda1:31.041+1.935s27
1155Carlos SainzToro Rosso1:31.200+2.094s24
1231Esteban OconForce India Mercedes1:31.210+2.104s32
1311Sergio PerezForce India Mercedes1:31.297+2.191s34
148Romain GrosjeanHaas Ferrari1:31.610+2.504s24
1518Lance StrollWilliams Mercedes1:31.684+2.578s24
1650Antonio GiovinazziHaas Ferrari1:32.031+2.925s24
1727Nico HulkenbergRenault1:32.171+3.065s19
1830Jolyon PalmerRenault1:32.450+3.344s16
1994Pascal WehrleinSauber Ferrari1:33.029+3.923s23
209Marcus EricssonSauber Ferrari1:33.399+4.293s26