Great Britain – Free Practice 1: The Silver Arrows dominate the first practice session

It is under a bright sun that the first practice session at Silverstone begins. The track temperature is 27°C while the air temperature is only 17°C. This practice session features Susie Wolff, who thus becomes the 6th woman in history to participate in an official Formula 1 Grand Prix practice session. She will be driving Valtteri Bottas’s car. Similarly, Giedo van der Garde will be taking Adrian Sutil’s place at Sauber for this practice session, while Nico Hülkenberg has given up his spot to Daniel Juncadella and Kamui Kobayashi his to Robin Frinjs.

Kevin Magnussen is the first to hit the track as soon as the light turns green at the end of the pit lane. He is followed by the majority of the field, who intend to take advantage of these ideal conditions to greet the many British fans gathered in the stands. Susie Wolff is one of the first to take to the track at the wheel of the Williams. It had been 22 years since a woman had driven during a Formula 1 Grand Prix.

During his installation lap, Lewis Hamilton warns that his steering wheel is not straight and tends to pull to the right. A small adjustment will therefore be necessary when he returns to the pits. On this occasion, Mercedes brought in one of the first Silver Arrows in history directly into the garage to celebrate its 60 years in F1.

The first quarter hour is very calm, with installation laps succeeding one another. Marcus Ericsson is the first to set a time, a very modest 1:50.811. But he is quickly beaten by Susie Wolff, who clocks in at 1:44.212. Toto Wolff’s wife only stays at the top for two minutes before the drivers start posting significant times, notably Jenson Button with a lap at 1:38.412. After twenty minutes, the Williams driver’s session abruptly ends due to a drop in oil pressure, which caused her to stop on the track.

Williams’s session is definitely not going as planned since Felipe Massa loses control of his car by accelerating on the astroturf and hitting the tire wall both front and rear. His car is destroyed, but he is okay. Both Williams cars are stopped as the red flag is out to clear the debris. The marshals also take the opportunity to retrieve Susie Wolff’s car.

After half an hour, the standings are therefore Rosberg, Alonso, Räikkönen, Ricciardo, Magnussen, Vergne, Kvyat, Button, Hamilton, and Gutiérrez. The interruption of the session also gives the Lotus mechanics time to dismantle Pastor Maldonado’s floor, who is experiencing a problem with his MGU-K.

The session is resumed after a quarter of an hour, but the drivers are not rushing to get on the track. Williams will not be able to send Susie Wolff back out as her car is suffering from an oil pressure issue with its engine. Her first session has therefore been cut short. There is also a lot of work going on at Caterham on Robin Frijns’ car, which is suffering from an electrical problem preventing the engine from starting.

After an hour, the ranking takes on a familiar look as Nico Rosberg leads his teammate, Lewis Hamilton. The Mercedes drivers are ahead of Alonso, Ricciardo, Räikkönen, Vettel, Button, Kvyat, Magnussen, and Vergne. It is at this moment that Marcus Ericsson goes off at the Maggots-Becketts sequence. He is then unable to engage first gear, bringing his session to an end. His car being immobilized right next to the apex provokes a long yellow flag, preventing all other drivers from improving their times. Meanwhile, Red Bull examines Sebastian Vettel’s car and dismantles the front wing.

For the last quarter of an hour, Caterham is finally able to let Robin Frijns take to the track. His first timed lap is clearly an installation lap to ensure everything is working since he is 18 seconds off Nico Rosberg’s time. Similarly, Pastor Maldonado is able to complete his first laps of the day but without setting a timed lap. As for Daniel Ricciardo, he returns to the pits indicating he has a gearbox problem. It remains to be seen if this will require a complete change before the race.

The final standings are therefore: Rosberg, Hamilton, Alonso, Ricciardo, Räikkönen, Vettel, Button, Kvyat, Magnussen, and Vergne.