- British Grand Prix - FP1
Rosberg fastest in FP1, Massa crashes out
Nico Rosberg set the pace during the first practice session for the British Grand Prix, which also featured the first female F1 driver in an official session for 22 years and a big accident for Felipe Massa.
Susie Wolff completed just four laps before pulling her Williams to the side of the track with an oil pressure problem, bringing an end to a disappointing debut at a grand prix. Although she has driven the car before in testing, Friday morning practice was her first outing in a session at a grand prix weekend but it lasted less than 20 minutes and she was not able to set a competitive time. The only silver lining is that she will be back behind the wheel in two weeks for another crack at an FP1 session in Germany.
However, fixing Wolff's car should be fairly straightforward for Williams compared to the repair job required on team-mate Felipe Massa's car. Massa lost the rear of his car on the exit of Stowe and smashed into the barriers by the entrance to the pit lane, destroying the front and rear of the car. The accident was very similar to the one he had in a Ferrari during second practice for last year's British Grand Prix and caused a red flag for 15 minutes.
Among those keeping their cars on the track, Lewis Hamilton was second fastest, 0.731s off team-mate Rosberg. Hamilton waited until the 58th minute of the session to set a fast lap, but on his second attempt came across Marcus Ericsson's Caterham, which had spun at Becketts. Up to that point, the second lap had looked competitive compared to Rosberg and it is likely the two will be more closely matched for the rest of the weekend.
Fernando Alonso was the best of the rest behind Mercedes as Ferrari set the third and fifth fastest times. However, Ferrari has often flattered to deceive in Friday practice this season, so it remains to be seen if the cars remain competitive for the rest of the weekend. Daniel Ricciardo set the fourth fastest time but was called back to the pits in the final 15 minutes after slowing on track. Team-mate Sebastian Vettel was sixth fastest, but 1.497s off the pace of Rosberg.
Jenson Button set the seventh fastest time in front of his home fans ahead of another impressive showing from the Toro Rossos of Daniil Kvyat and Jean-Eric Vergne in eighth and ninth. The second McLaren of Kevin Magnussen rounded out the top ten.
Daniel Juncadella was the fastest of the reserve drivers taking part in FP1, setting the 14th quickest time in the Force India of Nico Hulkenberg. Giedo van der Garde was 15th fastest in Adrian Sutil's Sauber with Robin Frijns limited to just 11 laps on his morning in Kamui Kobayashi's Caterham.
Pastor Maldonado failed to set a time after issues with his Lotus.
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