Valtteri Bottas Fastest On Day 1 Of Silverstone Young Driver Test

The Williams of Valtteri Bottas ended day one of the Silverstone Young Driver Test fastest, after the Finn completed 120 laps behind the wheel of the Williams-Renault FW34. The two Marussias of GP2 stars Max Chilton and Rio Haryanto finished the day 2nd and 3rd respectively, with HRT’s Ma Qing Hua 4th and last after making his Formula 1 debut.

Reigning GP3 Series Champion Valtteri Bottas clocked a 01:31.436 throughout the morning session, a time that went unbeaten as the rest of the day’s running progressed. When rain began to fall at around 16:30, track action momentarily stopped before Bottas returned to the track to complete one final run before the checkered flag fell signaling the end of the day’s running.

Max Chilton and Rio Haryanto were over just over five seconds off the pace set by Bottas, as the two drivers shared driving duties between the morning and afternoon sessions. Chilton’s fastest time of the day was a 01:36.558, just under a second quicker than Rio Haryanto’s 01:37.404.

Chinese driver Ma Qing Hua became only the second driver from China to get behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car, and brought up the rear of the timing sheets with a 01:37.829. The 24-year-old spun whilst exiting the Village corner, whilst activating DRS. Apart from this minor mishap, Ma Qing Hua was able to complete 82 laps throughout the due course of the day’s running, clocking a personal best time on the softer Pirelli compound.

The Silverstone Young Driver Test concludes tomorrow, as the drivers take to the International circuit configuration.

Today’s times:

Pos Driver Team Time 
 1.  Valtteri Bottas     Williams-Renault       1m31.436s
 2.  Max Chilton         Marussia-Cosworth      1m36.558s + 5.122s
 3.  Rio Haryanto        Marussia-Cosworth      1m37.404s + 5.968s
 4.  Ma Qing Hua         HRT-Cosworth           1m37.829s + 6.393s

Picture Copyright © Williams F1 Team