Bottas heads Mercedes 1-2 in first practice
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. | Driver | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:29.106 | - | 29 |
| 2 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:29.184 | +0.078s | 29 |
| 3 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing Tag Heuer | 1:29.604 | +0.498s | 26 |
| 4 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull Racing Tag Heuer | 1:29.942 | +0.836s | 19 |
| 5 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:30.137 | +1.031s | 19 |
| 6 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:30.517 | +1.411s | 19 |
| 7 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 1:30.895 | +1.789s | 21 |
| 8 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren Honda | 1:30.993 | +1.887s | 20 |
| 9 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams Mercedes | 1:30.999 | +1.893s | 26 |
| 10 | 2 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren Honda | 1:31.041 | +1.935s | 27 |
| 11 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso | 1:31.200 | +2.094s | 24 |
| 12 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Force India Mercedes | 1:31.210 | +2.104s | 32 |
| 13 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Force India Mercedes | 1:31.297 | +2.191s | 34 |
| 14 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas Ferrari | 1:31.610 | +2.504s | 24 |
| 15 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Williams Mercedes | 1:31.684 | +2.578s | 24 |
| 16 | 50 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Haas Ferrari | 1:32.031 | +2.925s | 24 |
| 17 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1:32.171 | +3.065s | 19 |
| 18 | 30 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 1:32.450 | +3.344s | 16 |
| 19 | 94 | Pascal Wehrlein | Sauber Ferrari | 1:33.029 | +3.923s | 23 |
| 20 | 9 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber Ferrari | 1:33.399 | +4.293s | 26 |
