Rosberg tops FP1 despite stopping on track

Nico Rosberg set the fastest time of the opening practice session for the British Grand Prix despite missing out on a lot of running when he stopped on track.

Rosberg was on just his fifth lap when he was told to stop his car immediately due to a lack of hydraulic pressure. The issue required a gearbox change which Mercedes impressively completed in time for Rosberg to return to the track late in the session, and he duly set a time of 1:34.274 to pip Lewis Hamilton by 0.070s on his final lap

Hamilton had topped the majority of FP1 and the two Mercedes drivers were over a second clear of the rest of the field, with the Toro Rossos of Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz third and fifth fastest respectively in the opening session. Hamilton didn't enjoy a completely smooth session, however, as he suffered a high-speed spin early on. The 2014 world champion ran a little wide exiting Stowe, unsettling his car on the kerb and lost control when he overcorrected as the rear stepped out.

Kimi Raikkonen split the two Toro Rosso drivers in fourth place despite an MGU-H issue for the Finn, while Sebastian Vettel was sixth in the second Ferrari but both drivers were more than 1.3s adrift of Rosberg's fastest time.

Red Bull enjoyed a more encouraging start to the weekend with Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat seventh and eighth quickest respectively. The high speed corners at Silverstone should suit the RB11 more than the last two circuits in Canada and Austria.

Nico Hulkenberg was ninth as both Force India drivers ran the B-spec VJM08, with Felipe Massa tenth for Williams. Massa was joined by Susie Wolff in the opening session, with Wolff finishing 13th quickest, 0.8s adrift of the lead Williams on a 1:37.242.

Wolff headed the three reserve drivers running in FP1, with Jolyon Palmer 14th and Raffaelle Marciello 15th quickest. Palmer was the only driver to be faster than his team-mate, with Pastor Maldonado 16th for Lotus.

McLaren had to manage its running once again, with Fernando Alonso 17th and completing just 12 laps as he is using an old Honda power unit. Jenson Button managed only 10 laps and was 0.6s slower than his team-mate as McLaren had to fix a leak at the start of the session, with Button ending up just 0.121s clear of Will Stevens in the updated Manor.

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