Mercedes set for another front-row lock-out after dominating practice
Mercedes set for another front-row lock-out after dominating practice
Mercedes maintained its dominance of practice ahead of the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix as Lewis Hamilton again edged team-mate Valtteri Bottas.
Hamilton posted a lap of one minute 26.621secs around Silverstone, beating Bottas by 0.163s as Mercedes scored its third consecutive one-two across practice, with the six-time F1 champion taking the head-to-head two-one over the Finn.
That has set up another qualifying showdown between the two as it appears odds-on it will be another front-row lock-out for the race.
For the first 40 minutes of the hour-long session, Hamilton and Bottas traded places on a few occasions before McLaren's Lando Norris set the fastest time with a lap of 1:27.202s, and on the medium-compound tyre.
Normal order was soon restored, though, as Norris' time was usurped by Bottas by four-tenths of a second on the softs, with Hamilton then claiming what proved to be the best lap of the session a couple of minutes later.
Norris' time was good enough for third quickest on the timesheet, followed by Racing Point reserve Nico Hülkenberg who finished just over six-tenths of a second down on Hamilton, and seven-thousandths ahead of team-mate Lance Stroll.
Following the engine failure on Sebastian Vettel's car in the closing minutes of FP2, Ferrari opted to replace the internal combustion engine, traction control and MGU-H in the German's SF1000.
As a safeguard, with an investigation to take place at Maranello over the coming days, the team also replaced the same parts in the power unit of Charles Leclerc's car.
That allowed Leclerc to set the sixth-best lap, albeit seven-tenths of a second down on Hamilton, while Vettel again struggled as he was a lowly 13th, 1.190s adrift.
Red Bull duo Max Verstappen and Alex Albon were next up, followed by Renault's Esteban Ocon and McLaren's Carlos Sainz, the latter a full second off the pace.
Following Friday practice, a concern for all the teams was the rapid degradation of the soft tyre, in particular given the hot conditions across Silverstone this weekend.
Pirelli is running a step softer across the three compounds, a move boss Mario Isola confirmed on Friday was at the request of F1 and the FIA to improve the show in the second of the back-to-back races at the Northamptonshire circuit.
All teams have determined the soft tyre will not be the one on which to start the race, so Q2 will see the 15 drivers involved seeking to avoid running that rubber to get into the top 10.
Bringing up the rear were Alfa Romeo pair Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Raikkonen, with Kevin Magnussen last up in his Haas, 2.142s down.
Related
Change your timezone:
Latest News
F1 News Today: Horner investigation TOLL on Verstappen revealed as question marks arise over Hamilton Ferrari switch
- 2 hours ago
Horner accuser 'angry and upset' over Red Bull SNUB as Perez bemoans lack of clarity - GPFans F1 Recap
- Yesterday 23:57
F1 fans provide SHOCK reaction to Verstappen Australian GP comments
- Yesterday 22:57
Ricciardo makes SHOCK F1 admission - ‘I wanted it to be over’
- Yesterday 21:57
Verstappen 'doesn't like' AWKWARD Red Bull Horner questions
- Yesterday 20:57
F1 champion issues DOUBT over Hamilton Ferrari move
- Yesterday 19:58
F1 Race Calendar
-
GP BAHRAIN
29 Feb - 2 Mar
Max Verstappen
-
GP SAUDI ARABIA
7 - 9 Mar
Max Verstappen
- GP AUSTRALIA 22 - 24 Mar
- GP JAPAN 5 - 7 Apr
- GP CHINA 19 - 21 Apr
- GP USA 3 - 6 May
- GP ITALY 17 - 19 May
Related news
Hamilton hits out at 'SHOCKING' Mercedes performance
F1 regulations DON'T help competitive racing insists Mercedes chief
F1 aero chief declares key area Red Bull are NOT quickest
Wolff SNUBS Bearman while revealing his 'standout' F1 rising star
F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
About GPFans
GPFans is a multi-platform, multi-language brand dedicated to Formula One coverage. We bring you all the ins and outs of the sport, 24/7, everything from up-to-the-minute news and features to the latest viral stories and clips.We believe that a new generation of exciting, outspoken drivers will make F1 more popular than ever before, and we want to give our users access to as much of their heroes as possible, on and off the track. From Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo to Sebastian Vettel, we provide in-depth analysis of every every Grand Prix in the season, from Australia to Abu Dhabi.
With Formula One under the new ownership of Liberty Media, how the sport is being covered is evolving, and GPFans will look to be at the heart of this progression into new media, as one of the fastest-growing sites covering the king of motorsports.
Follow us on your favorite social media channel
Corporate & Media
Innovatieweg 20C7007 CD, Doetinchem, Netherlands
+31645516860