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Styrian GP: William Racing FP1 a frustrating session


By Andrew Hooper
July 10 2020

The opening Friday practice session for the Styrian GP would be a productive but also frustrating session for the Williams Racing Team. Very early on the team would lose Nicholas Latifi with what was later confirmed to be a gearbox issue. Nicholas would get very little track time in the session which was not a great start to the weekend. Reserve driver Jack Aitken would be taking over George Russell's car for the session and he would finish in 17th in what was a productive session for the rookie completing runs on both the soft and medium tyre. Overall his performance in the car was note worthy making his sure brought the car back in one piece.

 
 Williams Racing Styrian GP Friday 1st Practice
 
Aitken
 

Team Summary:
The opening Friday practice session for the Styrian Grand Prix would see Williams Racing Reserve driver Jack Aitkin take over the seat of George Russell. Another reserve driver making an appearance is Robert Kubica taking the drive from Giovinazzi in this session. The session would commence with drivers coming out on a mix of tyres. Both Williams drivers would complete installation laps. The first lap time would be a 1m:07.190 from Sainz on the hard tyre. A 1m:06.817 from Sainz with Albon second. Albon would go quicker with a 1m:06.344 and a 1m:06.330. More drivers would be setting times with Norris now third followed by Bottas and Leclerc.

With twenty minutes completed both Williams cars would return to the track. Both Williams drivers would set timed laps with the pair slowest. The session would be red flagged as a result of the Williams of Nicholas stopping on the side of the track and not been able to be recovered. The top ten was Verstappen, Albon, Sainz, Norris, Leclerc, Bottas, Ocon, Perez, Hamilton, and Gasly. The session would be restarted with fifty five minutes remaining. Verstappen would improve with a 1m:05.586. Perez was now second but Leclerc would move ahead as the track emptied with the session half completed. Drivers started to return and Hamilton would go quickest with a 1m:05.208 followed now by Bottas and Verstappen.

Perez was now quickest using the soft tyre with a 1m:04.867 followed by Bottas, Hamilton and Stroll. Sainz was now fifth followed by Albon, Gasly, Verstappen, Ricciardo, and Vettel tenth. Jack was currently 17th. Verstappen was able to move in to second running on the soft tyre. Fifteen minutes remaining and Jack was back out. In the final runs Sainz was able to move into seventh ahead of Gasly, Ricciardo, and Vettel tenth. The Williams drivers would finish in 17th and 19th in what was a productive if also frustrating session what having lost Nicholas early in the session.

Jack Aitken:
Jack would be first out for Williams running on the soft tyre. he would pit after one installation lap. Jack would return to the track for his first timed run again on the soft tyre. Jack would set a 1m:11.540 on his first lap biut would improve with a 1m:09.604. He would return with the session restart again on the soft tyre and would improve with a 1m:09.256. He would lower his time to a 1m:08.222 and would pit after a five lap run. Jack would return for a further run this time on the medium tyre. He would improve with a 1m:081.77 followed by a 1m:07.421. Another improvement with a 1m:06.768. He would pit after a nine lap run currently 17th. He was 1.9s behind the quickest time. Twelve minutes remaining and Jack was back out again on the medium tyre. He would complete his run prior to the end of the session finishing in 17th.

Nichols Latifi:
Nicholas would join his team-mate out for his first run coming out on the shard tyre. He would just complete a single lap. Nicholas would also come out for his first timed laps. Nicholas would set a 1m:12.201 on his first lap. He would improve with a 1m:09.598 but Nicholas would stop on the side of the track with an engine issue. Nicholas would say "I think the engine just went - something happened" His car would be recovered as Nicholas would return back to the pits. It was confirmed by the team that it was a gearbox issue that brought Nicholas's car to a halt.

 
Aitken
 
Pos Driver Car Gap
1 Sergio Perez Racing Point-Mercedes 1m04.867s
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Honda 0.096s
3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 0.222s
4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 0.253s
5 Lance Stroll Racing Point-Mercedes 0.529s
6 Alexander Albon Red Bull-Honda 0.616s
7 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren-Renault 0.735s
8 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri-Honda 0.831s
9 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 0.902s
10 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 0.903s
11 Daniil Kvyat AlphaTauri-Honda 0.948s
12 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 0.970s
13 Esteban Ocon Renault 1.007s
14 Lando Norris McLaren-Renault 1.041s
15 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 1.574s
16 Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari 1.579s
17 Jack Aitken Williams-Mercedes 1.901s
18 Robert Kubica Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 1.930s
19 Nicholas Latifi Williams-Mercedes 4.731s
20 Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari -
 
Aitken
 

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Styrian GP: William Racing FP1 a frustrating session
Discussion started by Williams F1 , 10/07/2020 12:27
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10/07/2020 12:27
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