Belgian GP: Williams Martini finishes down the order in FP1


By Andrew Hooper
August 24 2018

Returning from their summer break the Williams Martini team would return to the famous Spa circuit for the 2018 Belgian GP. With the end of the session the Williams team would agin be presented by both drivers finishing well down the order with Lance Stroll in 16th and Sergey Sirotkin 19th. Both drivers would focus on runs with the supersoft tyre with the only incident been a spin from Sergey during the session which he was able to continue from. This result is pretty much where the team left off prior to the break.

 
 Williams Martini Belgian GP Friday 1st Practice
 
Stroll
 

Team Summary:
The opening Friday practice session would see drivers complete their installation laps with a mix of the medium, soft, and supersoft tyres. Verstappen would set the first time using the soft tyre with a 1m:46.916 improving with a 1m:46.241. More drivers would start to come out with Raikkonen now second also using the soft tyre. Norris, replacing Alonso for this session, was third but Raikkonen would go quickest with a 1m:45.444 with Vettel moving into second with both cars on the soft tyre. Bottas was now second using the supersoft tyre. Hulkenberg was in fifth followed by Norris. Sainz would move into sixth now followed by Perez and Norris. Rain would be reported on parts of the circuit. Hamilton would move up to third using the soft tyre.

At the front Hamilton would go quickest with a 1m:44.676 with Bottas now second having been fastest briefly. Raikkonen was now third followed by Verstappen, Vettel, Ocon, Hulkenberg, Sainz, Gasly and Perez tenth. With the first forty minutes completed the drivers would pit to return their set of tyres. With both Williams drivers having set times on the supersoft tyre they would be 14th and 17th with just under thirty minutes remaining. At the front Vettel was now quickest with a 1m:44.358 still using the soft tyre with Verstappen now second followed by Hamilton. Hamilton was now running on the medium tyre while Raikkonen was now fourth followed by Bottas, Ocon, Hulkenberg, Gasly, Grosjean, and Perez tenth.

Sainz would improve to be ninth while both Williams cars were in their pits. They both would return for runs on used supersoft tyres and would finish the session in 16th and 19th. Pretty well where they left off the season prior to the summer break.

Lance Stroll:
Lance would come out first for the Williams team for his installation lap pitting after just a single lap using the medium tyre. With fifteen minutes completed Lance would return now using the supersoft tyre. A 1m:48.832 for his first timed lap would see him third but 2.5 seconds off the pace. he would improve with a 1m:48.307 but with this time had dropped to seventh then tenth. Lance would continue his run on the supersoft tyre. He had dropped down to 15th. He would pit after a nine lap run. He would drop to 18th but on his next run still on the supersoft tyre he was able to set a 1m:46.965 to move up to 13th. He would drop to 15th and would return for another run on used supersoft tyres. Lance would finish in 16th with the end of the session.

Sergey Sirotkin:
Sergey would follow his team-mate out for his installation lap. Using the supersoft tyre he would complete a single lap. Sergey would also come out remaining on the supersoft tyre. He would pit without setting a time. With just over an hour remaining Sergey had yet to set a timed lap remaining in his pit. His mechanics were seen working on his car with covers off parts of his car. Sergey would finally return to the track with his issues resolved. Using the supersoft tyre he would set a 1m:48.582 followed by a 1m:47.367 to be tenth. Sergey was 0.9 ahead of his team-mate. He would spin at but was able to continue and would pit after an eight lap run. He would drop to 18th with thirty minutes remaining in the session having pitted. Sergey would also return also on used supersoft tyres and would finish the session in 19th.

 
Sirotkin
 
Pos Driver Car Gap Laps
1 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1m44.358s 19
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Renault 0.151s 20
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 0.318s 22
4 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 0.360s 17
5 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 0.366s 25
6 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 1.200s 4
7 Esteban Ocon Force India-Mercedes 1.428s 22
8 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1.593s 19
9 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1.811s 21
10 Carlos Sainz Renault 1.852s 19
11 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso-Honda 1.942s 25
12 Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari 2.029s 20
13 Charles Leclerc Sauber-Ferrari 2.196s 20
14 Marcus Ericsson Sauber-Ferrari 2.199s 19
15 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso-Honda 2.574s 23
16 Lance Stroll Williams-Mercedes 2.607s 25
17 Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 2.654s 21
18 Lando Norris McLaren-Renault 3.006s 26
19 Sergey Sirotkin Williams-Mercedes 3.009s 23
20 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren-Renault 3.094s 13
 
Stroll
 

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Belgian GP: Williams Martini finishes down the order in FP1
Discussion started by Williams F1 , 24/08/2018 11:46
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24/08/2018 11:46
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