Hamilton beats Rosberg by 0.033s to delight home crowd. Mercedes 0.8s ahead of nearest challengers; Vettel trials 'Halo Two'
Friday 8 July 2016 13:56, UK
Lewis Hamilton set a stunning early pace as he pipped Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg to the fastest time in Practice One at the British GP.
Off-track conflict and the threat of team orders had dominated pre-race chatter but the Silver Arrows got back to what they do best at Silverstone with a dominant one-two, 0.8 seconds faster than their nearest challengers despite only running on the medium tyre.
Hamilton's best time of 1:31.654 was eventually just three hundredths of a second faster than Rosberg's best effort, with Nico Hulkenberg an impressive third for Force India on the softs.
Sebastian Vettel fitted the softest tyre available to finish fourth, while the German also trialled a modified version of Ferrari's Halo to begin his session - and ended it with a gearbox issue.
His team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, who has been retained by the Scuderia for 2017, ended two places and 0.5s behind Vettel with Daniel Ricciardo splitting the pair in the Red Bull.
Hamilton came into his home grand prix under strict orders from Toto Wolff as the Mercedes chief offered a "final warning" to both the Brit and Rosberg.
Are Ferrari waiting for Hamilton?
The two Mercedes drivers swapped fastest times at the beginning of the session, with their pace on the medium compound some two seconds faster than the rest of the field when running on the same tyre.
The overcast conditions and strong Silverstone wind had many teams struggling early on, with plenty of lock-ups at Turn Three. Charles Leclerc, the Ferrari protege making his practice debut for Haas, was the first to spin off.
Ferrari, meanwhile, were concentrating on a different plan altogether, fitting Vettel's SF16-H with their latest cockpit protection system, dubbed the 'Halo Two', for an installation lap.
The device is the FIA's preferred safety mechanism for 2017, but continues to split opinion. Sky F1 pundit Anthony Davidson admitted it was aesthetically "pretty ugly" but said visibility wasn't a problem, while Williams' Pat Symonds hoped it would simply be an "interim solution".
With Hamilton and Rosberg in a league of their own out in front, it was surprisingly Force India who took the fight to Mercedes. The team, whose base is just a stone's throw away from the circuit, had expected a midfield battle but Hulkenberg led the chasing pack in third, though team-mate Sergio Perez finished some 0.7s behind in eighth.
McLaren, armed with a new ICE upgrade, couldn't quite find the required power to challenge early on with Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button finishing 10th and 12th respectively. Jolyon Palmer, a third Brit competing this weekend, out-paced Esteban Ocon, who replaced Kevin Magnussen in P1, by 1.2s to finish 16th.
The latter stages of the session saw Mercedes focusing on their long runs and opting against fitting the soft tyre, though there was a scare for Vettel as the chequered flag was waved. He reported a lack of power and stopped before limping back to the pits, with Ferrari possibly facing another weekend dogged by reliability concerns.
Hamilton had no such concerns, to the delight of the home fans.
Practice One timesheet
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:31.654
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:31.687
3. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 1:32.492
4. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1:32.501
5. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1:32.773
6. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:33.039
7. Max Verstappen, Red Bull, 1:33.202
8. Sergio Perez, Force India, 1:33.235
9. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, 1:33.446
10. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 1:33.527
11. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 1:33.738
12. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:34.132
13. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1:34.263
14. Felipe Massa, Williams, 1:34.456
15. Romain Grosjean, Haas, 1:34.547
16. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 1:34.787
17. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 1:34.805
18. Charles Leclerc, Haas, 1:35.869
19. Esteban Ocon, Renault, 1:35.980
20. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 1:36.003
21. Pascal Wehrlein, Manor, 1:36.136
22. Rio Haryanto, Manor, 1:36.647
Watch the British GP live on Sky Sports F1. The race starts at 1pm on Sunday, with build-up underway at 11:30am. Or watch the race without a contract for £6.99 on NOW TV.
