Welcome to the GP weekend in England! In the coming days we will be focusing on everything that is going on at and around the Silverstone circuit. For the 2023 British GP, several teams and drivers have brought special liveries and helmets. All well and good, but now let’s focus on the action on track during the first free practice session.
Pirelli has brought a new kind of tires for this weekend. According to the tire supplier, the cars are faster and heavier than previously thought. The new tires should therefore fit better with the current cars, but the drivers think otherwise. One after the other driver comes on the on-board radio to complain about the bad grip.
No grip on Silverstone
Verstappen is the captain in this ‘There is zero grip and it gets worse and worse. It’s like driving on ice,” says the Red Bull driver. Ocon tells his team that it is mainly the traction out of slow corners that is bad. We don’t hear Nyck de Vries complaining, but he won’t be satisfied either. In the middle of the bend Luffield – the slow bend to the right after which you continue towards Copse – the back breaks out of nowhere. De Vries slides into the gravel trap, but is not damaged.
When most of the riders switch to the soft tyre, the grumbling stops. Verstappen is fastest on this tyre. Pérez and Albon follow at 0.4 seconds. Nice of Albon, but the Williams is built for high speed. A high ranking at Silverstone can therefore be explained, but a third fastest time? You can assume that Albon’s car had little fuel on board, but still: a top ten finish is not impossible for Albon.
We see you, Albono 👀
FP1 ✅#WeAreWilliams #BritishGP pic.twitter.com/dUJfoCBY4z
— Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) July 7, 2023
Results 1st free practice for the 2023 British GP
- Verstappen
- Perez
- Albon
- Alonso
- Leclerc
- Ocon
- Sainz
- Norris
- Stroll
- Piastri
- DeVries
- Hamilton
- Gasly
- Russell
- Bottas
- Tsunoda
- Sergeant
- zhou
- Magnussen
- Hulkenberg
What time does F1 start at Silverstone?
Friday
2nd free practice: 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Saturday
3rd free practice: 12:30 p.m. – 1:40 p.m
Qualification: 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Sunday
Race: 4:00 PM
#Drivers #complain #grip #1st #free #practice #British