Spanish GP: Encouraging start in FP1 for Williams Racing


By Andrew Hooper
May 7 2021

The opening Friday practice for the 2021 Spanish GP would see an encouraging start for the Williams Racing Team. The session would see Roy Nissany take the place of regular driver George Russell, joining Nicholas Latifi. Both drivers would have uneventful sessions with the pair completing runs on the hard and soft tyre. Thery would finish in 16th and 17th places with Nicholas ahead of Roy. 

 
 Williams Racing Spanish GP Friday 1st Practice
 
Nissany
 

Team Summary:
The opening Friday practice for the 2021 Spanish Grand Prix would see Roy Nissany replaced George Russell, joining Nicholas Latifi. With the start of the session there would be a rush of drivers coming out all on the hard tyre except Alonso who was on the soft. The first lap time came from Kubica with a 1m:27.006 but others would go quicker with Bottas now quickest with a 1m:21/899 followed by Norris and Ocon. Hamilton would go quickest with a 1m:21.014 followed by Bottas, Gasly, Alonso, and Vettel. But Norris would move up to third but all would change as Verstappen went fastest with a time of 1m:20.405. Hamilton was second followed by Bottas, Sainz, Gasly, and Stroll. But Leclerc would improve to be third.

Alonso was now quickest with a 1m:19.950 but Hamilton would jump ahead with a 1m:19.675. After their first runs the Williams drivers were 9th and 15th. This would become 10th and 17th. Hamilton was still quickest from Alonso, on the soft tyre, Verstappen, Bottas, Norris, Gasly, Leclerc, Sainz, Vettel and Nicholas tenth. As more times were set the Williams drivers would drop to 13th and 18th as we had Tsunoda now ninth. We started to see drivers coming out for soft tyre runs. Vettel on the soft would go 11th while Perez was now fourth. Both Mercedes were out on the soft tyre with thirty minutes remaining. Vettel's next lap was a 1m:19.234 to go quickest. But Hamilton on the soft would go quickest with a 1m:18.808. Bottas would move up to second followed by Vettel, Stroll, Verstappen, Alonso, Perez, and Nicholas now tenth.

Norris was now third as Hamilton improved with a 1m:18.627. The Williams drivers after their soft tyre runs were in 10th and 16th with twenty minutes remaining. Bottas was now quickest with a 1m:18.504 followed by Hamilton and Norris. But the session would stop with a Red Flag as a result of Kubica going off at the new Turn 10. The order was Bottas from Hamilton, Norris, Gasly, Vettel, Stroll, Tsunoda, Giovinazzi, Ricciardo and Verstappen tenth. With the restart Verstappen would go second on the soft tyre. Sainz and Leclerc were now fifth and sixth. Perez was down in ninth as the session came to an end. The top ten was Bottas, Verstappen, Hamilton, Norris, Leclerc, Sainz, Gasly, Vettel, Perez and Stroll. The Williams drivers would fail to improve on their earlier soft tyre times and would finish in 16th and 17th. Not a bad effort for the opening session especially with one of the teams regular drivers missing.

Roy Nissany:
Roy would be first out for Williams for his installation lap. He would set a 1m:28.180 dropping down to tenth. He would improve with a 1m:24.695 to be eighth dropping to tenth again. This would become 15th. A 1m:22.971 would see Roy move up to 13th right behind his team-mate. He would pit after an eight lap run dropping to 14th. In his garage his car would go up onto the stands with what appeared to be work on the floor of his car. While in his pit he would drop to 17th. As he returned for a soft tyre run he was 19th. A 1m:21.540 from Roy and he was 17th. A 1m:21.140 and would would improve to be 16th. He was able to find time with a 1m:20.700 to be 15th. With seven laps on the soft tyre he would have to pit with a Red Flag. With the restart he would return but would fail to improve finishing the session in 17th.

Nicholas Latifi:
Nicholas would come out shortly after his team0-mate also on the hard tyre. His first lap time was a 1m:39.200 as he settled in to things. His next lap was a 1m:24.057 to be 13th. A 1m:22.756 from Nicholas would see him 12th with nearly fifteen minutes of the session completed. But an improved 1m:21.399 would see him now 9th. He would pit returning again on the hard tyre. After a further three laps Nicholas would pit currently tenth. This was a good result. He would drop to be 13th. He would return this time on teh soft tyre. A 1m:20.617 from Nicholas would see him eighth. This would become ninth with a 1m:20.270, dropping to tenth. This would become 12th as he continued his soft tyre run. After a seven lap run Nicholas would pit with a red flag. He would return with the restart but was now 16th one placed ahead of his team-mate. With the end of the session he would remain in this position.

 
Latifi
 
Cla Driver Chassis Laps Time Gap
1  Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 25 1'18.504  
2  Max Verstappen Red Bull 19 1'18.537 0.033
3  Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 22 1'18.627 0.123
4  Lando Norris McLaren 24 1'18.944 0.440
5  Charles Leclerc Ferrari 25 1'18.996 0.492
6  Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 22 1'19.020 0.516
7  Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 26 1'19.062 0.558
8  Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 24 1'19.234 0.730
9  Sergio Perez Red Bull 17 1'19.349 0.845
10  Lance Stroll Aston Martin 25 1'19.429 0.925
11  Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 22 1'19.669 1.165
12  Esteban Ocon Alpine 25 1'19.681 1.177
13  Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 23 1'19.694 1.190
14  Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 24 1'19.732 1.228
15  Fernando Alonso Alpine 25 1'19.950 1.446
16  Nicholas Latifi Williams 25 1'20.270 1.766
17  Roy Nissany Williams 23 1'20.700 2.196
18  Mick Schumacher Haas 23 1'20.766 2.262
19  Robert Kubica Alfa Romeo 13 1'21.887 3.383
20  Nikita Mazepin Haas 22 1'21.976 3.472
 
Nissany
 

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Spanish GP: Encouraging start in FP1 for Williams Racing
Discussion started by Williams F1 , 07/05/2021 12:45
Williams F1
07/05/2021 12:45
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