Nico Rosberg headed the first practice session for the British Grand Prix despite being halted for much of it by a hydraulic problem.
Rosberg had just five laps on the board and was on a flying lap when he reported his brake pedal had gone long, gear shifts had become “very bad” and “a lot of lights went on on my steering wheel”.
When the reply came to stop the car because of a “loss of hydraulic pressure” a surprised Rosberg asked “stop on track – right now?” The decision was confirmed and as the car was recovered Rosberg was able to return to the track in the final five minutes.
He continued to report very harsh gear changes when shifting up after returning to the track during the final five minutes. However his final effort was quick enough to beat team mate Lewis Hamilton by just seven-hundredths of a second.
Hamilton’s start to the session wasn’t trouble-free either as the Mercedes driver spun at the exit of Stowe. He and Rosberg ended practice over a second quicker than the fastest time seen in the same session last year.
Max Verstappen was ‘best of the rest’ behind the Mercedes, albeit one-and-a-quarter seconds slower than the W06s. Team mate Carlos Sainz Jnr ensured both their cars were in the top five, however Rosberg was unhappy with one of them who he accused of “dangerous” driving. “He started to do a bite point in front of me, just slowed down suddenly two corners before the end,” Rosberg reported on the radio.
A late improvement by Kimi Raikkonen split the two Toro Rossos, while Sebastian Vettel put the other Ferrari sixth. Raikkonen’s running was also disrupted during the final half hour when the team detected a problem with his MGU-H and called him back into the pits.
Nico Hulkenberg’s updated Force India took ninth behind the two Red Bulls. Felipe Massa completed the top ten ahead of Felipe Nasr, while both their team mates handed their cars over to test drivers for this session. Raffaele Marciello drove the Sauber while two British drivers – Susie Wolff and Williams and Jolyon Palmer at Lotus – got to run in front of their home crowd.
Both McLaren drivers spend long periods in the garage due to various problems. Jenson Button only set his first lap time during the final five minutes, and complained about being held up by Sergio Perez at one stage.
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Car | Best lap | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’34.274 | 12 | |
| 2 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’34.344 | 0.070 | 26 |
| 3 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1’35.530 | 1.256 | 18 |
| 4 | 7 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1’35.588 | 1.314 | 21 |
| 5 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1’35.669 | 1.395 | 33 |
| 6 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’35.739 | 1.465 | 17 |
| 7 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull-Renault | 1’35.818 | 1.544 | 26 |
| 8 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Red Bull-Renault | 1’35.876 | 1.602 | 22 |
| 9 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1’36.157 | 1.883 | 28 |
| 10 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 1’36.469 | 2.195 | 23 |
| 11 | 12 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’36.855 | 2.581 | 20 |
| 12 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Force India-Mercedes | 1’36.889 | 2.615 | 26 |
| 13 | 41 | Susie Wolff | Williams-Mercedes | 1’37.242 | 2.968 | 19 |
| 14 | 30 | Jolyon Palmer | Lotus-Mercedes | 1’37.262 | 2.988 | 26 |
| 15 | 36 | Raffaele Marciello | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’37.372 | 3.098 | 17 |
| 16 | 13 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus-Mercedes | 1’38.080 | 3.806 | 8 |
| 17 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren-Honda | 1’38.222 | 3.948 | 12 |
| 18 | 22 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Honda | 1’38.860 | 4.586 | 10 |
| 19 | 28 | Will Stevens | Manor-Ferrari | 1’38.981 | 4.707 | 23 |
| 20 | 98 | Roberto Merhi | Manor-Ferrari | 1’40.477 | 6.203 | 23 |
First practice visual gaps
Nico Rosberg – 1’34.274
+0.070 Lewis Hamilton – 1’34.344
+1.256 Max Verstappen – 1’35.530
+1.314 Kimi Raikkonen – 1’35.588
+1.395 Carlos Sainz Jnr – 1’35.669
+1.465 Sebastian Vettel – 1’35.739
+1.544 Daniel Ricciardo – 1’35.818
+1.602 Daniil Kvyat – 1’35.876
+1.883 Nico Hulkenberg – 1’36.157
+2.195 Felipe Massa – 1’36.469
+2.581 Felipe Nasr – 1’36.855
+2.615 Sergio Perez – 1’36.889
+2.968 Susie Wolff – 1’37.242
+2.988 Jolyon Palmer – 1’37.262
+3.098 Raffaele Marciello – 1’37.372
+3.806 Pastor Maldonado – 1’38.080
+3.948 Fernando Alonso – 1’38.222
+4.707 Will Stevens – 1’38.981
+6.203 Roberto Merhi – 1’40.477
Sean (@spaceman1861)
3rd July 2015, 11:41
Susie and Jolyon looking good :)
ColdFly F1 (@)
3rd July 2015, 12:01
First time Susie got close to the competitive times. Not sure if that means she is improving or just showing the speed of the car (Williams are known to downplay their speed on Fridays).
@spaceman1861
PS – a McLaren being ‘held up’ is not something we have heard a lot this season ;)
Sean (@spaceman1861)
3rd July 2015, 12:03
True, How many runs has she actually had? there was an engine failure or something in one but that all I can remember.
Iestyn Davies (@fastiesty)
3rd July 2015, 13:57
@coldfly I think she ran a similar pace in either the test or FP1 last year, the margin sounds familiar.
David Not Coulthard (@davidnotcoulthard)
3rd July 2015, 11:42
@keithcollantine“Stoppage propelled Rosberg to fastest time” feels more appropriate.
notMr.E (@mreff1)
3rd July 2015, 16:40
so hows roscoe doing this weekend ?
Ivan B (@njoydesign)
3rd July 2015, 11:56
ahhh that plot would’ve looked so exiting without the first 2 results….
Ivan B (@njoydesign)
3rd July 2015, 11:57
*exciting
favomodo (@favomodo)
3rd July 2015, 12:34
+1 so true
W-K (@w-k)
3rd July 2015, 11:57
I would have been impressed if Rosberg had gone a lot faster than Hamilton, to be only 0.07 secs up after the track had been “rubbered in” for an extra hour in FP1 is nothing.
Jay Menon (@jaymenon10)
3rd July 2015, 11:58
Is it a car.. Is it an Austin allegro… No it’s a McLaren
James
3rd July 2015, 12:03
No doubt this isn’t the first time the visual gaps have been used but nice one Keith, adds another interesting dimension. Keep up the good work that man.
Todfod (@todfod)
3rd July 2015, 12:04
Epic Fail from Mclaren.
The Manors have actually made more progress than Mclaren this season, and it could be a matter of a couple of more races before Stevens and Merhi are racing their compatriots and former WDCs.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
3rd July 2015, 12:08
Mercedes are now under investigation for covering Rosberg’s car after he stopped:
https://www.racefans.net/2015/07/03/mercedes-under-investigation-for-covering-rosbergs-car/
bosyber (@bosyber)
3rd July 2015, 12:31
What happened to Merhi? (I don’t recall seeing much of him during FP1 either)/
lockup (@)
3rd July 2015, 12:40
Calculated cost/benefit by Merc I can only suppose.
Janh Kougan (@sameercader)
3rd July 2015, 13:06
excellent lap by Rosberg, showing his true pace over Hamilton.
Neil Taylor
3rd July 2015, 19:19
You mean last year and this year when he was slower then Hamilton he wasn’t showing his true pace?
As he lost the WDC last year, he is leaving it a bit late.
Janh Kougan (@sameercader)
4th July 2015, 5:56
in my opinion last year Rosberg was not at his best and was making to many mistakes.
But since Spain this year, his seemed to have an edge over Hamilton.
3 Wins out of 4 Races
Patrick (@paeschli)
3rd July 2015, 13:09
My English is pretty bad but I suppose that’s either “wasn’t” or “hasn’t been”? @keithcollantine
versase1
3rd July 2015, 13:22
There is a fun to read interview: