Free practice 1: a rain-affected session

More questions than answers at the end of the first free practice session for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. The rain arrived to upset the teams’ plans, with the drivers only putting in a handful of laps.

15 laps.  Just before the start of the session, rain soaked the track. Charles and Carlos went out on Intermediate tyres to assess the conditions, which could be repeated tomorrow during qualifying. The Spaniard pitted immediately, while the Monegasque did four laps, the best in 1’43”801.

After a short pause, Carlos went out again and posted a 1’42”967. But then it became clear that the track was still not dry enough for slicks, while not really being suited to Intermediates either, as they would just get damaged, so all the drivers pitted. After around 30 minutes, the cars finally went out again for the final few minutes, but an off-track excursion from Lance Stroll brought out the red flags and the session did not resume.