70th Anniversary GP, Practice One: Valtteri Bottas fastest for Mercedes
Written by News on 07/08/2020
Mercedes re-established their dominance at Silverstone in first practice for the 70th Anniversary GP as Valtteri Bottas led a one-two ahead of Lewis Hamilton, while stand-in Nico Hulkenberg shone for Racing Point.
On a busy Friday morning which saw two major F1 news stories confirmed – Sergio Perez’s second positive COVID-19 test and Racing Point’s fine and points deduction – Mercedes banished the memories of the late tyre drama from the British GP at the same circuit to, unsurprisingly, start fastest.
Bottas, who cruelly lost points and title ground with his tyre puncture last Sunday, set the pace in P1 – a tenth of a second ahead of championship leader Hamilton in the glorious UK sunshine.
And more than seven-tenths faster than Max Verstappen, the Red Bull driver who has been the Silver Arrows’ only real threat during their winning start to F1 2020.
Remarkably, Hulkenberg was only just behind Verstappen in fourth as the German – replacing Perez again this weekend – impressively kicked off the debut 70th Anniversary GP ahead of temporary Racing Point team-mate Lance Stroll.
The title for the second leg of the maiden Silverstone back-to-back is inspired by the first-ever F1 world championship race, at the famous Northamptonshire circuit back in May 1950.
Tyres, heat, and fast Mercedes: The story of P1
Given Mercedes were a second faster than their rivals in qualifying for last weekend’s British GP, it was no shock to see them post the early benchmark at Silverstone.
But that it was Bottas, and not Hamilton, was crucial for the Finn’s confidence as he looks to eat into the six-time champion’s 30-point title lead.
The opening session was as much about tyres in the soaring heat as it was about the timesheets, with teams collecting plenty of data on Pirelli’s rubber – which is a ‘step’ softer than it was last weekend. And we saw how that race ended.
Verstappen was conducting aero tests for much of P1, too, and did not post a time at all until over an hour into the session. When he did, he encouragingly went straight up to third.
That knocked Hulkenberg, who cruelly did not get to race last weekend due to a car failure, and indeed Charles Leclerc – a surprise podium-sitter last weekend – down a place, with both drivers within a second of Mercedes.
The same could not be said about Alex Albon, Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll in the other Red Bull, Ferrari and Racing Point, who occupied the next three places on the timesheets.
AlphaTauri enjoyed a strong session, ahead of rivals Renault and McLaren, while Williams can also take positives from the session with George Russell and Nicholas Latifi 15th and 16th.
Temperatures are set to soar for the rest of Friday, and the weekend.
(c) Sky Sports 2020: 70th Anniversary GP, Practice One: Valtteri Bottas fastest for Mercedes
