Silverstone, 9 July

The tenth round of the Formula 1 World Championship, this Sunday’s British Grand Prix, got underway this morning with the first free practice session at England’s Silverstone circuit. Topping the first time sheet of the weekend was Sebastian Vettel in the Red Bull, the German lapping in 1.32.280, getting the better of Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren (1.32.614) and Robert Kubica in the Renault (1.32.725.)

Fernando Alonso was the quicker of the two Ferraris, thirteenth in 1.34.490, with a total of 20 laps completed, while in the other F10, Felipe Massa was seventeenth with a best time of 1.35.037 from 21 laps. As usual on Friday, the team was not looking for lap times, but concentrated on comparative tests with both cars: Alonso had a new rear wing and Massa a new front one as well as a different exhaust system configuration. There was also a novelty on the driver line-up, as the Hispania Racing team has replaced Bruno Senna with its Japanese test driver, Sakon Yamamoto.

The action gets underway again at Silverstone in just over two hours at 2 pm with the second free practice session.