Steiermark GP: Productive FP1 for Williams Racing


By Andrew Hooper
June 25 2021

The opening Friday practice session for the 2021 Steiermark GP would see the Williams Racing Team drivers finish in 15th and 17th positions. Both drivers would run on the hard and medium compounds during the session as well as one run on the soft tyre. Overall it was an uneventful and productive first session.

 
 Williams Racing Steiermark GP Friday 1st Practice
 
Latifi
 

Team Summary:
The opening Friday practice session for the 2021 Steiermark Grand Prix would commence with a rush of drivers coming out on a mix of hard and medium tyres. On the hard tyre Bottas would set a 1m:11.006 only for Stroll to move ahead and the Norris on the medium with a 1m:08.864. He was followed by Ocon on the hard, and Gasly. But Leclerc would move ahead only to see Hamilton and then Verstappen go quickest. Verstappen had set a 1m:07.454. Hamilton was second followed by Leclerc, Stroll, Ocon, Vettel, Norris, Gasly, and Alonso. Gasly would jump up to third but things would rapidly change. With ten minutes completed Leclerc was now third followed by Ricciardo, Norris, and Giovinazzi. The Williams drivers weer now 15th and 16th after their first runs.

Ocon would improve to be fifth dropping to sixth as Alonso went fourth. With Perez now third with the top three all on the medium tyre the Williams pair were now 11th and 15th. This would become 12th and 16th as the session progressed. Verstappen was still quickest from Gasly, Perez, Tsunoda, Hamilton, Ocon, Leclerc, Stroll, Vettel and Ricciardo tenth. Drivers started to return this time on the soft tyre. On the soft tyre Hamilton would go quickest with a 1m:06.390. Ricciardo was now fourth and Norris seventh both on the soft. But Bottas would move into fourth but things would change as Hamilton went quicker with a 1m:06.332 now followed by Bottas, Tsunoda, Verstappen, Giovinazzi and Gasly sixth.

Gasly would set a 1m:06.166 to be quickest only to see Verstappen fastest with a 1m:05.910. Bottas would move into second ahead of Gasly. After their soft tyre runs the Williams drivers were 12th and 17th. With twenty minutes remaining Verstappen was fastest from Gasly, Hamilton, Bottas, Tsunoda, Alonso, Ocon, Stroll, Giovinazzi, and Leclerc tenth. With ten minutes remaining both Williams drivers were back out running a split tyre strategy with one of the hard and the other the medium. Quite a few drivers were doing longer runs on the soft tyre. The session would come to an end with Verstappen remaining fastest from Gasly, Hamilton, Bottas, Tsunoda, Alonso, Ocon, Stroll, Giovinazzi and Leclerc tenth. With the end of the session the drivers were allowed to complete practice starts on the grid. The Williams Racing Team would see their drivers finish in 15th and 17th in what was a productive if not inspiring session for the team.

George Russell:
He would start his session coming out running on the medium tyre and would set a 1m:08.814 to be 15th right behind his team-mate. A 1m:07.831 from George to see him 10th dropping to 11th. This would become 12th with fifteen minutes of the session completed. A 1m:07.721 would see George move up to 11th. A 1m:07.466 from George and he would move into 10th. He would pit after a ten lap run on the medium tyre. He would return also on the soft tyre and would set a 1m:06.901 but this would only see him 12th. Even with a 1m:06.848 George would remain 12th. He would pit after a four lap run. This would become 15th as he was in his pit. He would return ona set of mediums completing a practice start returning to his pit only to return still on the medium tyre. He would complete a thirteen lap run including a practice start on the grid.

Nicholas Latifi:
Nicholas would be first out in the session for Williams running on the hard tyre. He would set a 1m:18.800 but then would improve with a 1m:09.662 to be 13th dropping to 17th. Nicholas would improve with a 1m:08.618 to now be 15th. A 1m:08.490 and Nicholas would remain 15th. Nicholas would pit after a ten lap run on the hard tyre. He would drop to 16th as he came into his pit. Nicholas would join those coming out on the soft tyre and would set a 1m:07.376 to be 13th. He would drop to 17th as others went quicker. He would pit after a seven lap soft tyre run. Nicholas would return for a run on the hard tyre. A 1m:07.180 and Nicholas was still 17th. Nicholas would pit after a ten lap run on the hard tyre. He would return on the soft tyre to complete a practice start on the actual grid.

 
Russell
 
Cla Driver Chassis Engine Time Gap
1  Max Verstappen Red Bull Honda 1'05.910  
2  Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri Honda 1'06.166 0.256
3  Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Mercedes 1'06.332 0.422
4  Valtteri Bottas Mercedes Mercedes 1'06.386 0.476
5  Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri Honda 1'06.397 0.487
6  Fernando Alonso Alpine Renault 1'06.519 0.609
7  Esteban Ocon Alpine Renault 1'06.551 0.641
8  Lance Stroll Aston Martin Mercedes 1'06.584 0.674
9  Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Ferrari 1'06.614 0.704
10  Charles Leclerc Ferrari Ferrari 1'06.629 0.719
11  Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari Ferrari 1'06.630 0.720
12  Daniel Ricciardo McLaren Mercedes 1'06.669 0.759
13  Sergio Perez Red Bull Honda 1'06.696 0.786
14  Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin Mercedes 1'06.708 0.798
15  George Russell Williams Mercedes 1'06.848 0.938
16  Lando Norris McLaren Mercedes 1'06.861 0.951
17  Nicholas Latifi Williams Mercedes 1'07.180 1.270
18  Mick Schumacher Haas Ferrari 1'07.473 1.563
19  Robert Kubica Alfa Romeo Ferrari 1'07.823 1.913
20  Nikita Mazepin Haas Ferrari 1'08.081 2.171
 
Latifi
 

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Steiermark GP: Productive FP1 for Williams Racing
Discussion started by Williams F1 , 25/06/2021 11:58
Williams F1
25/06/2021 11:58
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WilliamsF1Fan
25/06/2021 13:28
I thought Roy Nisseny was doing FP1 not George?

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