Verstappen Dominates Friday Practice For 2023 British GP

(Image credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

Roundup of Friday Practice for 2023 British Grand Prix as Max Verstappen dominated both sessions. 

Verstappen comfortably dominated both sessions with little challenge except from last year’s race winner, Carlos Sainz who finished second fastest overall.

Williams meanwhile sprung a huge surprise with Alex Albon finishing third fastest in FP1 and FP2 respectively, as the British drivers struggled to make a mark on the timesheets.

Now, here is a full roundup of all the action across FP1 and FP2.

 

FP1

(Image credit: Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

Albon was first out on track but it was Mercedes’ George Russell who set the initial benchmark time of 1m 33.471 on hard tyres, although Red Bull’s Max Verstappen quickly lowered the benchmark time to 1m 30.443 on hard tyres.

Verstappen proceeded to set the pace in the opening half-hour as he lowered the fastest lap time to 1m 29.863 in the 11th minute, ahead of Sergio Perez who was also on hard tyres as Williams’ Logan Sargeant set the third-fastest time on soft tyres.

Sainz however displaced Verstappen in the 30th minute with 1m 29.357 as attention switched to the soft tyre, although Esteban Ocon displaced the Spaniard with 1m 29.319 in the 41st minute, before Charles Leclerc found 0.039 seconds to go fastest just a minute later.

Verstappen however set an initial session-topping 1m 28.836 in the 48th minute but lowered his quickest lap to 1m 28.600 to finish ahead of his teammate, Perez who was 0.448s slower in second place.

Albon finished third quickest ahead of Fernando Alonso and Charles Leclerc to round out the top five, as everyone but Russell and Lewis Hamilton set their fastest laps on the soft tyres, with both Mercedes drivers having done their fastest laps on the medium tyre.

Position Driver Team Time 
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1m 28.600
2 Sergio Perez Red Bull + 0.448
3 Alex Albon Williams + 0.489
4 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin + 0.668
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari + 0.680
6 Esteban Ocon Alpine + 0.719
7 Carlos Sainz Ferrari + 0.757
8 Lando Norris McLaren + 0.841
9 Lance Stroll Aston Martin + 0.871
10 Oscar Piastri McLaren + 1.058
11 Nyck De Vries AlphaTauri + 1.091
12 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes + 1.168
13 Pierre Gasly Alpine + 1.228
14 George Russell Mercedes + 1.274
15 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo + 1.490
16 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri + 1.492
17 Logan Sargeant Williams + 1.524
18 Guanyu Zhou Alfa Romeo + 1.721
19 Kevin Magnussen Haas + 1.785
20 Nico Hulkenberg Haas + 1.991

 

FP2

(Image credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

AlphaTauri’s De Vries was first out on track after a five minute delay due to track cleaning, but it was Alonso who set the initial benchmark time of 1m 31.071 on medium tyres in the fourth minute.

Ocon, Piastri and Perez quickly displaced the Spaniard as Verstappen went fastest with 1m 29.550 less than a minute later, but Perez went 0.099s faster just over five minutes later.

Sainz however displaced the Red Bull drivers in the 13th minute as he went fastest with 1m 29.083 as the opening stints drew to a close.

Verstappen was amongst a group of drivers who opted for an early Qualifying simulation which paid off as he delivered a session-topping 1m 28.078 in the 23rd minute, as Sainz fell 0.022s shy in second with Albon, Perez and Sargeant rounding out the top five.

Russell was fastest out of the British runners in 12th position as Norris and Hamilton found themselves 14th and 15th fastest at the checkered flag, amidst a quiet period of race simulations.

Leclerc meanwhile didn’t set a lap time after an electrical issue prevented him from participating in the session, with Ferrari forced to conduct a full thorough repair to fix the issue.

Position Driver Team Time 
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1m 28.078
2 Carlos Sainz Ferrari + 0.022
3 Alex Albon Williams + 0.218
4 Sergio Perez Red Bull + 0.264
5 Logan Sargeamt Williams + 0.688
6 Lance Stroll Aston Martin + 0.788
7 Nico Hulkenberg Haas + 0.802
8 Pierre Gasly Alpine + 0.811
9 Oscar Piastri McLaren + 0.848
10 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin + 1.056
11 Guanyu Zhou Alfa Romeo + 1.147
12 George Russell McLaren + 1.160
13 Esteban Ocon Alpine + 1.164
14 Lamdo Norris McLaren + 1.182
15 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes + 1.205
16 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo + 1.300
17 Kevin Magnussen Haas + 1. 361
18 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri + 1.405
19 Nyck De Vries AlphaTauri + 1.493
20 Charles Leclerc Ferrari No Time

3 Trackbacks / Pingbacks

  1. Verstappen Dominates Friday Observe For 2023 British GP – Sport Grill - Bellejamaica
  2. Hamilton Hails Third Place at 2023 British GP as “huge” Result – Sport Grill
  3. Hamilton Hails Third Place at 2023 British GP as “big” Consequence – Sport Grill - Bellejamaica

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