© Getty images2024 British Grand Prix - Free Practice ReportWith the rain threatening all weekend, the Bulls put in plenty of data-gathering laps on day one in Silverstone.
MaxandChecostartedtheirweekendbyputtinginthelapsonhard,mediumandsofttyrestogatherasmuchdataaspossibleasthereisahighpossibilityofrainoverthenexttwodays.
Max finished the day in P4 and P7, whilst Checo finished P3 in Free Practice Two after loaning his RB20 to Red Bull Junior driver Isack Hadjar for FP1, where the 19-year-old finished in P19.
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The first session of the day saw several teams offer up one of their cars to a junior driver – as is required by the FIA. The team used the opportunity to put 19-year-old Isack Hadjar in Checo’s RB20. The Formula 2 driver is currently P2 in the F2 Championship competing for Campos Racing. He drove the RB19 in FP1 in Abu Dhabi last year, and this was to be his second opportunity driving for the Team. The French-Algerian driver put in a total of 15 laps in the hour-long session finishing in P19. His fastest lap was a 1:29.270, which he set on the medium tyres. He was just 1.850s off the top spot.
Max started his session on the hard tyres, which is the C1 for this weekend’s race. The C1 is Pirelli’s hardest tyre in the P-Zero range. Max put in two push laps before the red flags were waved for Yuki Tsunoda, who slid into the gravel trap and was beached.
After the red flag, Max headed back out onto track on the same hards and set one more push lap, his time of 1:28.370 placing him P2 at that point in the session.
At the halfway session Max came out of the garage on the yellow-walled medium tyres. He put in two push laps on the mediums and his quickest time was 1:27.729, placing him top of the timesheet at that particular moment.
Towards the end of the session McLaren and Aston Martin sent their drivers out on the soft tyres, whereas Max completed 9 race simulation runs on the hard tyres he’d used earlier. The drivers on the soft tyres were able to eclipse Max’s time, with Lando Norris topping the FP1 timesheet with a 1:27.420, Lance Stroll was second and Oscar Piastri third. Max finished P4, 0.309s off the pace.
Isack Hadjar Pushing In FP1© Getty Images
With rain threatening to arrive during the latter session of the day, the teams were keen to get their drivers out on the track quickly to gain as much knowledge as possible. The Team sent Max and Checo out on the C2 medium tyre to begin with. Max only put in one flying lap on the medium, stopping the clock at 1:27.831, which put him top early on. Checo, who didn’t participate in FP1, put in thee flying laps. His fastest time of 1:28.185, came in his final lap after he’d pitted for a front wing flap adjustment. The time saw him in P6.
Max moved quickly on to the soft tyre. He set one flying lap with a time of 1:27.233, putting him provisionally in P1. He then returned to the pits before emerging with another set of fresh soft tyres. He went off track at Becketts and aborted his lap before returning to the pits without setting a time on his second set of softs.
Checo also emerged on soft tyres. He too, put in one flying lap before swapping them out for a second set of softs. On his second set, Checo set a time of 1:26.983, which placed him P3.
The pair then returned to their medium tyres for some high-fuel running. Max put in 11 timed laps and Checo five. With just six minutes of the session remaining, the rain started to fall, so all drivers returned to their garage. Max stayed there, but Checo went out on the intermediates so he could attempt a race start on the green walled tyres.
At the end of the session, Lando Norris was top with a 1:26.549, Oscar Piastri in P2 and Checo remained in P3. Max finished the session in P7, 0.684s behind the leader.
Checo Back In His RB20 For FP2© Getty Images
| Rank | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | | 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:27.420 | - |
| 2 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 1:27.554 | +0.134 |
| 3 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1:27.631 | +0.211 |
| 4 | Max Verstappen | Oracle Red Bull Racing | 1:27.729 | +0.309 |
| 5 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:27.738 | +0.318 |
| 6 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 1:27.794 | +0.374 |
| 7 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:27.858 | +0.438 |
| 8 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:27.903 | +0.483 |
| 9 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 1:27.925 | +0.505 |
| 10 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 1:27.974 | +0.554 |
| ... | ... | ... | ... | ... |
| 19 | Isack Hadjar | Oracle Red Bull Racing | 1:29.270 | +1.850 |
A Charging Max Verstappen© Getty Images
