Brazilian GP: Encouraging FP1 for Williams Martini
By Andrew Hooper
November 11 2016
It would be an encouraging start to the 2016 Brazilian GP weekend for the Williams Martini team. Both drivers would finish in the top ten with Valtteri Bottas 5th and Felipe Massa 8th. Both drivers would focus on running on the soft tyre with both drivers completing longer runs on the soft tyre in the second half of what was an uneventful session.
Williams
Martini Brazilian GP Friday 1st Practice
Team Summary:
With the start of the session it would be a Williams out first followed by
drivers running on a mix of soft and medium tyres. Both Williams would
complete their installation lap on the hard tyre. The track would empty with
everyone having completed their installation laps. Wehrlein would be first
back out joined by Ocon, both on the medium tyre. The first time would be
set by Wehrlein with a 1m:17.977. More drivers were coming out as Ocon set a
1m:17.351 to be quickest but Button would go faster on the soft tyre with a
1m:14.252. A 1m:13.977 from Valtteri going fastest. Hamilton was out on the
medium tyre but running with some aerodynamic testing device attached to the
rear of his car. Ocon was third with a 1m:16.919 followed by Palmer.
Grosjean was now third followed by Ericsson and Palmer.. Hamilton would go
quickest with a 1m:13.447 followed by Valtteri and team-mate Felipe going
third. Rosberg was sixth with Hamilton improving with a 1m:13.182. Rosberg
would also improve with a 1m:13.623 to be second. The Williams pair were
third and fourth with an hour and five minutes remaining. A 1m:13.187 from
Rosberg to be just 0.005 behind Hamilton. Raikkonen was now fifth followed
by Button and Alonso. Ricciardo would split the Williams cars going fourth.
Verstappen was now sixth as both Williams drivers continued their runs on
the soft tyre. Verstappen would go third seeing the Williams drivers fourth
and sixth. Ricciardo and Verstappen were now third and fourth seeing the
Williams fifth and sixth.
Forty minutes into the session and the track would empty. Of the top eight
only the Williams were on the soft tyre everyone-else on the medium tyre.
First back out would be Alonso with forty five minutes remaining. Valtteri
was able to go quickest with both Red Bull cars on the track. Verstappen on
the soft tyre would set a 1m:11.991 to go quickest. Rosberg was also out
running on the soft tyre and would go second with a 1m:12.125 with Ricciardo
third. Sainz was up to seventh as Hamilton came out running on the soft
tyre. On their soft tyre runs Perez and Hulkenberg would be sixth and
seventh. The Williams were fourth and eighth. Hamilton was down in fifth on
his soft tyre run but he was able to improve with a 1m:11.895. After pit
stops drivers would come back out running on used soft tyres as they worked
through race simulations. Ten minutes remaining and drivers continued to lap
the circuit with the track very busy as the session came to a close. The
Williams pair would remain fifth and eighth.
Valtteri Bottas:
Valtteri would be first out onto the track running on the hard tyre. He
would pit after a two laps but would not set a time. On his return Valtteri
would be running on the soft tyre and would set a 1m:13.977 to go quickest.
Valtteri would drop to second but had improved with a 1m:13.710. Valtteri
would drop to third and he would pit having completed twelve laps. He would
return to the track still on the same set of soft tyres. He would pit again
currently fifth. With under forty minutes remaining Valtteri would return
with a new set of soft tyres. Valtteri was on a quick lap and would set a
1m:13.129 to go quickest, dropping to third then fourth. He would pit after
seven laps. With eighteen minutes remaining Valtteri would return to the
track still on the used soft tyres.
Felipe Massa:
Felipe would take to the track sometime later than his team-mate also using
the hard tyre, pitting after a single lap. Felipe would come back out also
on the soft tyre and would set a 1m:19.385 to be eleventh. But he would
improve with a 1m:13.860 to be third then fourth. He would drop to fifth
behind Ricciardo. Felipe would also pit with fifty five minutes remaining.
He would also return to the track but would pit after a single lap. Felipe
would follow his team-mate out also on a set of new soft tyres. Felipe would
set a 1m:13.318 to be sixth. Felipe would drop to eighth behind Hulkenberg.
Felipe would also pit after seven laps. With fifteen minutes remaining
Felipe would also return still on the used soft tyres.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m11.895s 32
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Renault 1m11.991s 29
3 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m12.125s 26
4 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 1m12.371s 27
5 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 1m13.129s 36
6 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1m13.289s 31
7 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m13.293s 33
8 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1m13.318s 33
9 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1m13.567s 24
10 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m13.569s 26
11 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m13.711s 22
12 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m14.090s 15
13 Jenson Button McLaren-Honda 1m14.252s 27
14 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Honda 1m14.296s 26
15 Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari 1m14.507s 25
16 Felipe Nasr Sauber-Ferrari 1m14.631s 21
17 Marcus Ericsson Sauber-Ferrari 1m14.654s 23
18 Esteban Ocon Manor-Mercedes 1m14.827s 30
19 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1m14.908s 32
20 Pascal Wehrlein Manor-Mercedes 1m14.948s 32
21 Charles Leclerc Haas-Ferrari 1m15.391s 27
22 Sergey Sirotkin Renault 1m15.800s 10
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