British Grand Prix: Valtteri Bottas fastest ahead of Lewis Hamilton in both Friday practice sessions at Silverstone
Brit was made to play second fiddle to his Mercedes team-mate on Friday
LEWIS HAMILTON played second fiddle to team-mate Valtteri Bottas as Mercedes dominated Friday practice at Silverstone.
The Finn finished marginally faster than Hamilton in his Mercedes in P2 this afternoon, much like the morning session at the British Grand Prix.
Bottas, who is 15 points behind Hamilton in the drivers’ standings clocked a 1:28.496 to edge out the Brit by 0.047 seconds.
Hamilton’s best time was set on the slower tyre, however, which was typically half a second down on the super soft.
In P1 on Friday morning the margin was 0.078 with both Mercedes drivers comfortably clear of the chasing pack.
Kimi Raikkonen was third fastest on Friday afternoon, one tenth ahead of Ferrari team-mate and Championship leader Sebastian Vettel.
Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo were fifth and sixth respectively having been third and fourth in the morning session ahead of the Ferraris.
It was an otherwise uneventful Friday for the fans that flocked to Silverstone for the first day of the race weekend.
Bottas said: “We’ve started the weekend really well. In the first session, the balance was not too far away, so a positive start.
“There is still work to do to get the car more drivable and to be able to trust it more in the high-speed corners. But overall I think it was a good start for the weekend.”
Ferrari tested a new cockpit safety windscreen early in P1 before ditching it later in the morning.
Hamilton is looking for his fourth straight win at the British Grand Prix having won the last three years.
He arrived at Silverstone having received heavy criticism for skipping a demonstration event in London on Wednesday to head to Mykonos on holiday.
After practice, Hamilton said: “Today’s been a really good start to the weekend and it’s great to be back here at Silverstone.
“We worked through all the sessions, fine-tuning the balance and I think we’re in a good position at this early stage of the weekend.
“We still need to build upon it, but it’s a great foundation moving forward.”
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