Despite his fast time, the question is how Gasly (Red Bull) will perform on Sunday. Bottas and Hamilton (Mercedes), Verstappen (Red Bull), and Vettel and Leclerc (Ferrari) will push him hard.
SILVERSTONE, England—July 12th—A light wind and earlier morning sprinkles didn’t deter either Valtteri Bottas or Pierre Gasly. The latter set the fastest time in Friday practice, and the former clocking a 1:26:732 fastest time. Both raced at the Silverstone International Circuit in preparation for Sunday’s British Grand Prix.
Bottas set the best time of the day in the second session, edging out teammate Lewis Hamilton by 0.069 seconds.
It might have taken a while for Charles Leclerc in his Ferrari to get near the front, but the Monegasque improved later in the session to finish in third, just 0.197 seconds behind Bottas. Leclerc had a chance to move higher up, but with soft tires, he ran wide at Brooklands at the end of the afternoon session.
For the rest of the top ten, Sebastian Vettel was only two-tenths of a second behind Ferrari teammate Leclerc. Problems with his grip, like Hamilton, disabled him from moving further up the order. He took fourth.
Gasly was very quick in the opening session–putting down a great lap at the last second to take the fastest time–but in the afternoon, the Frenchman could not catch up with the top contenders as their improvements began to take shape.
Even with the Renault engine, the McLarens of Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz Jr. placed sixth and eighth, respectively. The Austrian race winner, Max Verstappen, was sandwiched between them in seventh. He was never able to find a good lap all day. Alexander Albon took ninth in his Toro Rosso. And in one of his best placings of the season thus far, Sergio Perez was tenth in the Racing Point.
For Renault drivers, Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg, a late engine issue with the former made the team stop the challenge early. They placed 14th and 15th in the final order. The French engine manufacturer is hoping there won’t be an issue going forward.
The Haas F1 Team with Kevin Magnussen took 12th overall, but teammate Romain Grosjean had a disappointing 18th.
