British GP FP1 Results: Pierre Gasly fastest as Red Bull impress

British Grand Prix

British GP FP1 Results: Gasly fastest as Red Bull impress

Finally some luck for the Frenchman.

Martin Macdonald

Friday 12 July 2019 12:47 Updated: 12:53

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Pierre Gasly surprised everyone at the British Grand Prix first practice session at Silverstone on Friday as he recorded the fastest lap ahead of Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen in second and third respectively.

Romain Grosjean set the tone for the day when he actually spun and crashed while inside the pitlane, just at the corner before the lane means the proper track. After losing control, he spun his front wing into the side, causing significant damage.

The decision was made for the Haas driver to complete the subsequent lap in order to avoid going the wrong way down the pitlane, but all this achieved was spreading debris throughout the track, resulting in a small safety car period.

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Shortly after, a longer suspension of the session was needed after Kimi Raikkonen suffered from an engine failure on the Wellington straight. The removal of his car resulted in a temporary red flag.

Starting off well at Silverstone ?? Pierre is P1 with a 1:27.173 and Max finishes P3 posting a 1:28.009 ? #BritishGP pic.twitter.com/E3DZwZlOwJ
— Aston Martin Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) July 12, 2019

As time went on after the action returned, spots of rain became a problem as a variety of drivers struggled with the water complicated the already complicated surface, which was only finished two weeks ago. The Brooklands corner was the location of numerous spins.

Alexander Albon, George Russell, and poor Grosjean all lost control at that corner.

Lewis Hamilton was quiet in the session as he finished in fourth, and appeared to lose grip significantly after the appearance of rain.

Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel were fifth and sixth respectively, with the former vaguely reporting something “weird” going on with his Ferrari early on.

British GP FP1 results

1. Pierre Gasly (Red Bull) 1:27.173
2. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) 1:27.629
3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1:18.009
4. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 1:18.122
5. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 1.28.253
6. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) 1:28.304
7. Nico Hulkenberg (Renault) 1:28.803
8. Daniel Ricciardo (Renault) 1:29.031
9. Alexander Albon (Toro Rosso) 1:29.093
10. Carlos Sainz (McLaren) 1:29.162
11. Lando Norris (McLaren) 1:29.170
12. Sergio Perez (Racing Point) 1:29.453
13. Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso) 1:29.500
14. Lance Stroll (Racing Point) 1:29.657
15. Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo) 1:30.099
16. Kevin Magnussen (Haas) 1:30.605
17. George Russell (Williams)1:30.741
18. Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo) 1:30.747
19. Romain Grosjean (Haas) 1:30.811
20. Robert Kubica (Williams) 1:32.121