|
Friday practice
for the 2013 British Grand Prix would see the Williams F1 team struggle for
pace with drivers Valtteri Bottas and Pastor Maldonado finishing well down
the times in sixteenth and seventeenth. At least the teams would be
presented with a dry but cold day. Their are two DRS zones one on the
Wellington straight and the second on the Hangar straight. The teams again
would have the use of the hard and medium compounds for the session. The
session would commence with a rush of drivers coming out while for Williams
Pastor Maldonado would be out first. Several drivers had taken to the track
on the medium tyre including Bianchi and Chilton.
Valtteri would leave the pit running on the hard tyre as Pastor pitted after
one lap. Raikkonen would set the first time with a 1m:34.367 while team-mate
Grosjean would set a 1m:41.601. Valtteri had continued on a second lap and
would set a 1m:37.148 to be second. Raikkonen had improved with a 1m:34.184
as Pic moved into third. Valtteri would improve with a 1m:34.712 while
Rosberg was third with a 1m:38.436. Grosjean would move back into second
with Perez now fourth followed by Hamilton, Rosberg, and Pic in seventh.
Raikkonen had pitted while Valtteri set a 1m:34.468 as Grosjean also pitted.
Alonso was now out on the track with fifty minutes remaining. Perez was now
fastest with a 1m:33.607 with Valtteri now fourth followed by Massa and
Alonso. Valtteri would also find time setting a 1m:33.603 to be quickest.
Massa was now third with a 1m:34.011. Pastor had yet to take to the track as
Valtteri pitted after a six lap run. Perez would suffer a left rear puncture
with his tyre having destroyed itself. Perez said that the tyre exploded.
The session would be red flagged as Perez came slowly back to the pit lane.
There were large sections of his tyre out on the track explaining the red
flag. This would be removed by marshals and the session would quickly get back underway. Several drivers were waiting at the
end of the pit lane including Pastor as the lights went green. Perez's car
had a lot of floor damage from the rear tyre failure seeing his mechanics
now hard at work repairing it.
Webber would go fastest with a 1m:32.560 while Valtteri had also come back
out. More drivers were going quickly with Ricciardo now second followed by
Di Resta. Webber would improve with a 1m:32.369 while Pastor was down in
thirteenth with a time of 1m:34.452. Vergne would move up to second while Di
Resta was third followed by Ricciardo, Sutil, and Valtteri. Pastor had pitted after only a
few laps while both Vettel and Alonso would run wide at Becketts. With
thirty minutes remaining drivers would start to return to their pits while
Valtteri had set a 1m:33.603 seeing him 1.2 seconds off Webber's time.
Ricciardo would move back into second again with a 1m:32.475. Valtteri would
continue looking to complete a longer run on the hard tyre.
After a long wait in his pit Hamilton was back out and would go to the top
of the times with a 1m:32.317, also on the hard tyre. Valtteri was now in
seventh while Pastor still was in his garage. Massa was back out on the
medium tyre and would set a 1m:33.273 to be seventh. Pastor was also back
out while for Mercedes Rosberg was quickest in sector one. He would finish
with a 1m:32.192 to be second. Team-mate Hamilton would improve setting a
1m:32.140. Alonso was also going quickly setting a 1m:32.454 to be fourth.
Just as quickly Webber would return to the top of the times with a
1m:32.078. Valtteri was now tenth and had pitted. Pastor was now fifteenth
and had run wide at Becketts. Di Resta would also run wide at the same
point.
Both Hamilton and Rosberg would move ahead with Hamilton going fastest with
a 1m:31.750 and Rosberg second, 1m:31.833. Webber was now third followed by
Alonso, Ricciardo, Vergne, Di Resta, Sutil, Massa, and Valtteri still tenth.
With fifteen minutes remaining the track had become nearly empty with just
Ricciardo and Raikkonen the track. Raikkonen was on the medium tyre and would set a
1m:32.498 to be sixth. Perez's car had being repaired and he was able to
come back out. Both Valtteri and Pastor had also returned to the track with
eight minutes remaining. The medium tyre was the tyre of choice for their
final runs as it was announced that Massa was to have an engine change.
Gutierrez was now eleventh and Pastor twelfth, 1m:33.445, after their quick
runs. All the drivers were out on the track as Vettel went fastest in sector
one.
Webber was also on a quick lap going fastest in sector one as Vettel moved
up to third with a 1m:32.037. Valtteri was now fourteenth with a 1m:33.487
as Perez went off at Beckets seeing him spin but he was able to continue. A
1m:33.245 from Pastor but he was still only in fourteenth. A 1m:33.379 from
Valtteri seeing him only seventeenth. Hamilton would set a 1m:31.750
remaining fastest as the session drew to a close. Rosberg was able to find
time going fastest with a 1m:31.487 while Hamilton was second with a
1m:31.633. Vettel was still third followed by Webber, Grosjean, Ricciardo,
Alonso, Raikkonen, Sutil, and Di Resta tenth. Despite Valtteri being well ahead of Pastor prior to their final runs the times at
the end of the session would see Pastor ahead of Valtteri with Pastor
thirteenth and Valtteri finishing in sixteenth. |
