Racing Point’s Lance Stroll finished fastest on a day when Friday Practice for the 2020 British Grand Prix threw up plenty of surprises.
From the return of a driver many didn’t expect to see in F1 again after his departure at end of last season to hot temperatures, Friday Practice certainly threw up plenty of difficult tests for various drivers.
Here, we roundup the best of both practice sessions as one world champion endured a torrid day, whilst both timesheets had a different topping in terms of names.
FP1
Embed from Getty ImagesSeveral drivers opted for installation laps as F1 quickly reeled from confirmation of Nico Hulkenberg’s sudden return to F1 with Racing Point as replacement for Sergio Perez.
Kimi Raikkonen was the first to post a timed lap but Lando Norris soon quickly begun to dominate the early part of session until Antonio Giovinazzi caused a red flag, with debris spread throughout sector three following a spin at Chapel.
Just minutes earlier, Giovinazzi’s Alfa Romeo teammate – Kimi Raikkonen spun at Luffield into the gravel but was able to continue under his own power.
Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton soon traded fastest laps once the red flag was withdrawn, until Red Bull’s Max Verstappen posted the fastest time of 1m 27.422 on soft tyres shortly after the one hour mark.
Embed from Getty ImagesVerstappen ultimately topped the session from Hamilton whilst Lance Stroll, Alex Albon and Charles Leclerc rounded out the top five, ahead of Bottas and the Renault duo of Esteban Ocon and Daniel Ricciardo.
Hulkenberg ended his first session back in four races in ninth and 0.588s off Stroll, whilst Alpha Tauri’s Daniil Kvyat completed the top ten.
Outside the top ten, Norris and George Russell finished 13th and 16th for McLaren and Williams respectively.
Sebastian Vettel only managed two laps before a cooling issue related to the turbocharger sidelined him for rest of session.
FP2
Embed from Getty ImagesA quiet start to session saw nobody head out onto the track in the opening five minutes before Daniel Ricciardo eventually ventured out, after Race Control instructed drivers to use blue headrest foaming given the hot temperatures.
Leclerc dominated the early stages despite a spin at The Loop before both Red Bull drivers bettered his 1m 28.773, whilst Bottas went fastest overall in the 28th minute with a 1m 28.039 on mediums.
Vettel meanwhile continued to struggle and opted to pit after 30 minutes for a change of pedals prior to the soft runs, of which Albon went quickest initially until Racing Point’s Stroll bettered his time with an eventual timesheet topping 1m 27.274.
Verstappen found himself down in 14th after his soft tyre flier was wrecked by a slow moving Romain Grosjean at Becketts, shortly before Albon caused a red flag exactly halfway through the session.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe under-pressure Red Bull driver simply lost the rear going through Stowe and did a full spin, which ended with him slamming sideways into the barriers to end his session early.
Once the session restarted, Bottas went third whilst Hamilton could only manage fifth on their soft fliers as Stroll topped FP2 from Albon, Bottas, Leclerc and Hamilton.
Carlos Sainz managed to finish sixth ahead of Hulkenberg, Pierre Gasly, Ricciardo and Raikkonen who rounded out the top ten.
Further down the order, Norris finished the session in 11th whilst Russell was 17th fastest and 0.089s quicker than Vettel who has had a torrid Friday by his standards.
Results
FP1
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1m 27.422 |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 0.474 |
| 3 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point | + 0.582 |
| 4 | Alex Albon | Red Bull | + 0.707 |
| 5 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.799 |
| 6 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | + 1.097 |
| 7 | Esteban Ocon | Renault | + 1.137 |
| 8 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | + 1.153 |
| 9 | Nico Hulkenberg | Racing Point | + 1.170 |
| 10 | Daniil Kvyat | Alpha Tauri | + 1.446 |
| 11 | Pierre Gasly | Alpha Tauri | + 1.487 |
| 12 | Carlos Sainz | McLaren | + 1.566 |
| 13 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 1.568 |
| 14 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | + 2.110 |
| 15 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | + 2.154 |
| 16 | George Russell | Williams | + 2.477 |
| 17 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | + 2.503 |
| 18 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | + 2.553 |
| 19 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | + 3.281 |
| 20 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | No Time Set |
FP2
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point | 1m 27. |
| 2 | Alex Albon | Red Bull | + 0.090 |
| 3 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | + 0.157 |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.296 |
| 5 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 0.307 |
| 6 | Carlos Sainz | McLaren | + 0.546 |
| 7 | Nico Hulkenberg | Racing Point | + 0.636 |
| 8 | Pierre Gasly | Alpha Tauri | + 0.723 |
| 9 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | + 0.838 |
| 10 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | + 0.885 |
| 11 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 0.895 |
| 12 | Esteban Ocon | Renault | + 0.945 |
| 13 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | + 0.982 |
| 14 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 1.116 |
| 15 | Daniil Kvyat | Alpha Tauri | + 1.152 |
| 16 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | + 1.290 |
| 17 | George Russell | Williams | + 1.497 |
| 18 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | + 1.586 |
| 19 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | + 1.624 |
| 20 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | + 2.684 |
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