European GP 2016

JUNE 17, 2016

Practice 1 Report - Exploring the limits

Lewis Hamilton
© Active Pictures

 

By Dan Knutson

The Formula 1 drivers explored the limits of the new Baku street track during the opening round of practice for the European Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton had some spins and offs and even scraped the wall on his way to setting the fastest time of the session in his Mercedes. Daniel Ricciardo, meanwhile, went over the limits and crashed his Red Bull into the barriers.

The line-up for the weekend was: Mercedes - Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. Ferrari - Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen. Williams Mercedes - Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas. Red Bull TAG Heuer - Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen . Force India Mercedes - Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez. Renault - Kevin Magnussen and Jolyon Palmer. Toro Rosso Ferrari - Daniil Kvyat and Carlos Sainz. Sauber Ferrari - Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr. McLaren Honda - Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button. Manor Mercedes - Pascal Wehrlein and Rio Haryanto. Haas Ferrari - Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutierrez.

"It is really interesting," Massa had said of the track layout before venturing out. "There is a big mix between Russia, Monaco and Monza I would say.

"There are so many different type of corners, like 90 degrees, many in Russia as well, then you have this slow sector from T7 to T12 which I think will be tricky to understand how you pass on these corners and understand the way of doing the corners. Then you go back to the high speed part T13/14, which is maybe flat out, then slow corner 15 and maybe another Russia-type corner at 16 and then a long straight which is important to have a good top speed."

The ambient temperature at the start of the 90-minute session was 81 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees Centigrade) and the track temperature was 106 degrees Fahrenheit (41 degrees Centigrade.)

Gutierrez made history by being the first F1 driver out on the street circuit in Azerbaijan's capitol city of Baku. It didn't take long for all 22 drivers to complete their installation laps. They were using a mixture of Pirelli's soft and medium compound slicks.

Rosberg set the first ever lap time on the track - a 1:56.306 - and then lowered that to a 1:53.481. He followed that up with a 1:51.430 and a 1:50.100. Hamilton and Bottas were the only others driver to complete a flying lap at this early stage of FP1.

Hamilton became the first driver to get below the 1:50 mark as he posted a 1:49.174. Other drivers were taking their time getting up to speed. Vettel, for example, was eight seconds slower than Hamilton 20 minutes into the session. Then Hamilton went even quicker with a lap of 1:48.214.

Twenty-two minutes into the session Vettel then became the first F1 driver to spin on the track as he did a pirouette at Turn 15. Other drivers ended up having to use the escape road at Turn 15.

"We're seeing a very slippery and dusty track so far. Quite windy, which blows debris, twigs, plastic bags, paper cups etc onto the surface," Pirelli tweeted.

Just past the half hour mark Bottas went to the top of the timing screens with a lap of 1:47.707. He was clocked at 218 mph (351 kmh) on the long straight.

At the 40 minute mark, as which time the teams have to return one set of tires from each driver to Pirelli, the top 10 were: Bottas, Hamilton, Rosberg, Perez, Alonso, Hulkenberg, Button, Raikkonen, Vettel and Ricciardo.

All of them used the soft slicks to set their times. But now, as the action resumed, Hamilton and Rosberg headed out on the super softs. Verstappen wasn't heading anywhere as the mechanics were removing the gearbox on his Red Bull.

Hamilton then topped the times with a 1:46.489. Rosberg was 0.323 of a second slower. Then Hamilton improved to a 1:46.435.

One hour into the session the top 10 were: Hamilton, Rosberg (the only two drivers to use the super soft tires at this stage), Bottas, Alonso, Perez, Hulkenberg, Button, Raikkonen, Vettel and Ricciardo.

Hamilton was having "offs" as he explored the limits of the track, and then he lightly clipped the wall at Turn 3. That was just one of a number of incidents as other drivers also got to grips with the track and the run off areas.

With 23 minutes remaining in FP1, Ricciardo became the first F1 driver to crash as he hit the barriers at Turn 15 and damaged the right rear of his Red Bull. That brought out the red flags.

The session was restarted with 13 minutes remaining. Hamilton had flat spotted one of his front tires, so he was unable to go out and do any laps as the session wound down.

Sainz became the next driver to crash, albeit lightly, as he damaged the front wing of his Toro Rosso at Turn 15.

The session ended with no other drivers finding the barriers. The top 10 were: Hamilton, Rosberg, Bottas, Alonso, Vettel, Perez, Button, Massa, Sainz and Hulkenberg. Only the Mercedes and Toro Rosso drivers used the super soft Pirellis in FP1.