Free 1: Sebastian Vettel fastest

It is under the sun and in warm weather that the first free practice session for the British Grand Prix begins, at Silverstone. If the circuit has evolved since the last arrival of the plateau of F1, the drivers have also changed. In accordance with its wishes, Lotus places Fairuz Fauzy in the seat of the T127, in place of Jarno Trulli, while Paul di Resta replaces Tonio Liuzzi at Force India. These two test drivers will each return their steering wheel at the end of this session, to allow the return of the starters. This is not the case at HRT, where Sakon Yamamoto replaces Bruno Senna for the entire weekend, without further details.

After a long period of inactivity, Jenson Button (McLaren) is the first to take to the track to set a time (1:37??994). On this extended circuit, no reference can be taken from previous years for comparison. And, to test the new section of the circuit, the drivers take risks and test the limits of grip. Michael Schumacher, Paul di Resta, Felipe Massa, Lewis Hamilton, among others, go wide at the exit of the bend, taking advantage of the asphalt clearances to quickly return to the track.

Robert Kubica (Renault) and Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) spend a moment in mind but Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) wins the reference mark (1?32??280). The times no longer go down at the top of the timesheet but, further down the rankings, many drivers improve, starting with Adrian Sutil (Force India, 1:32??968) and Michael Scumacher (Mercedes, 1:33 ??955). Vitaly Petrov (Renault), who knows that his place at Renault means very little in view of the 2011 season, sets the tenth fastest time (1:34:365) as the end of the session approaches.

On this new circuit, the drivers do one lap after another. Sakon Yamamoto (HRT), who must compete in his first Grand Prix of the season on Sunday, is, with Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso), the most diligent on the track but also the slowest, a few tenths behind Fairuz Fauzy (Lotus) and his teammate Karun Chandhok (HRT). For his part, Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) climbs to second place in the hierarchy, running in 1:32:614.

But an exit from the track by Fairuz Fauzy (Lotus) brought out the yellow flag and sounded the death knell for the improvement in times, one minute from the end of the 90-minute countdown. Sebastian Vettel therefore finished with the best time (1:32:280), ahead of Lewis Hamilton (1:32:614), Robert Kubica (1:32:725), Mark Webber (1:32:747) and Adrian Sutil (1:32??968), the five drivers under 1:33??. Start of the second free practice session at 15 p.m.