F1 British GP: Valtteri Bottas tops wet practice session
1st July 2022Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas set the fastest time as the first practice session, of the British Grand Prix, was hindered by changeable conditions.
How practice unfolded…
Just before the session got underway, the weather decided to play its part and it began to rain trackside. However, free practice still went ahead as planned. The Mercedes duo of George Russell and Sir Lewis Hamilton were the first drivers to venture out onto the Silverstone track, with the former out first, on the green-ringed intermediate tyres.
They were soon followed by the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc. In the early moments of the session, the track would become more difficult to navigate as different aspects of the track were certainly more damp than other sections such as; Luffield, Woodcote (turns seven and eight) and into Copse (turn nine).
After 10 minutes, Leclerc was the only driver to set a lap time 1:43.8. More drives started to get lap times on the board, soon after, but no one was able to top Leclerc’s time as Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll topped P2 with a 1:51.2. However, as the session moved to its 20 minute mark, Sainz jumped to the top of the timing board with a 1:42.9.
As the sun started to come out, the track started to dry up in certain areas and Sainz stated – over his team radio – he was to come into the box. However, by the halfway point, the track was still damp between Luffield and Copse but somewhat dry everywhere else.
After a bit of a lull, in the second half of the session, where all the drivers were hunkered down in their respective garages, Hamilton was the first driver to head back out onto the track. With less than 10 minutes on the clock, Hamilton placed his first lap times on the board with a 1:49 which placed him P7 on the board.
The seven-time world champion pitted on the lap after his first flying lap, of which the Mercedes garage sent the #44 Mercedes back out onto the track with the red-ringed, soft slick tyres. Although Hamilton was able to set the fastest first sector, the seven-time world champion was still only able to set the fifth quickest time. This would be down to his second sector being hindered by a wet surface between Luffield and Copse.
The session was soon ended prematurely after Stroll lost control into copse and spun out before he came to halt in the gravel trap. At the end of the session Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas topped the timing board with Hamilton and Sainz second and third, respectively.
That’s it for the article: F1 British GP: Valtteri Bottas tops wet practice session! Read more Formula 1 here!
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
