BARCELONA, 1 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) was the fastest in the first free practice session of the Formula 1 British Grand Prix, with Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) third), in a first contact marked by water on the British track and by a final red flag.
Much time was lost in the heavy rain that greeted the drivers at Silverstone and, when it looked like the track might start to dry out in places, Canadian Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) skidded on the daring dry tires and caused that flag that ended with the last attempts to do a fast lap.
All this meant that the first three drivers were Valtteri Bottas with his Alfa Romeo and a 1:42.249, with the local idol Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) -the most active with 10 laps under his belt- second and the Spaniard from Ferrari Carlos Sainz third, at 0.5 and 0.7 seconds respectively.
Of course, some times that do not serve as a reference since it was not possible to go full throttle at any time on the slippery dance floor. In fact, only ten drivers managed to set the time and another ten, including the World Championship leader Max Verstappen (Red Bull) or the Spanish Fernando Alonso (Alpine), did not complete a fast lap.
It was a wet session and somewhat wasted, as many drivers and teams chose to take things easy. Instead of testing in wet conditions, or later in the ideal scenario of intermediate tires, they chose to wait in their pits to see if the time improved, something that did not happen and, for dessert, that red flag from Stroll that left many with everything the work to be done.