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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. |
