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The 2023 F1 British GP kicked off with the first hour of running that saw Max Verstappen lay down a dominant marker.
We're not even into the business end of the weekend, and Red Bull has already started to stretch the leg of the beautiful Adrian Newey creation. Verstappen ended the season almost half a second quicker than teammate Sergio Perez who was followed by Alex Albon in a surprise P3 position.
In P4, we had Fernando Alonso in his Aston Martin, followed by Charles Leclerc in his Ferrari to complete the top five on the timesheets.
In the first hour of running in the prestigious 2023 F1 British GP, what did we learn? Let's take a look.
2023 F1 British GP FP1: Key Learnings
#1 Max Verstappen is not wasting any time to get the ball rolling
It would have been a truly demoralizing sight for his rivals to see the way Max Verstappen stretched his legs as soon as he hit the track.
The driver did his first lap on Hard tires and was almost a second quicker than anybody else on Medium tires. If that was not enough of a downer, Verstappen came on the radio and complained about having no grip on his lap.
The Dutchman found the right setup as the session progressed and we did not see many complaints from him afterward, but the stopwatch did not lie. If we remove Max Verstappen from the equation, we would have one of the closest battles to the top in F1 between Perez, Alonso, Leclerc, Hamilton, and others.
Unfortunately, this generational talent has been performing at a completely different level than anyone else.
#2 The cluster of Red Bull's chasing pack has gotten bigger
Red Bull was initially chased by Aston Martin, Mercedes, and Ferrari at the start of the season. It does appear that in the first half of the season, that cluster has gotten bigger. We now have Alpine and McLaren joining the tail-end of this cluster.
Alpine had an off-weekend in Austria but seems to have bounced back for the 2023 F1 British GP. The fast lap from Esteban Ocon that split the Ferraris was no joke.
Similarly, the lap times done by the McLaren duo were pretty impressive as well. While both Alpine and McLaren are not proven contenders yet, the 2023 F1 British GP does show that the gap is getting smaller.
#3 Mercedes has not had the best start
Mercedes is expected to be the best of the rest this weekend. The team tends to perform very well in the fast-speed sections of a track.
That has been its forte, and that is what helped the team secure a double podium in Barcelona. By the time we reach qualifying, we could see the same happening in the 2023 F1 British GP as well.
For now, however, neither of the two Mercedes drivers seemed comfortable with the car. The new upgrades and their specific fine-tuning could take some time, but overall, if we look at it, the car is not there yet.
For a team that's expected to stand out in the chasing pack, the start to the 2023 F1 British GP has not been the best.
#4 McLaren's pace in Austria seems genuine
There were question marks over McLaren and the form it showed in Austria. It's hard to deny that the car in the hands of Lando Norris was the third fastest car on the grid.
Norris overtook the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton in that car and showed potential as well as performance not seen before by McLaren this season.
There were still question marks if that progress would continue to the 2023 F1 British GP. Many felt that the peculiar nature of the Red Bull ring could have aided the progress, but there was still a lack of clarity.
The first session does not give the complete picture of where McLaren finds itself, but it does show that the car is competitive. Overall it is still positive for the Woking-based squad.
#5 We might be looking at a split between midfield and the backmarkers
Up until now, the field was divided into the frontrunners in Red Bull, Mercedes, Ferrari, and Aston Martin, followed by the bottom six teams in the midfield. The gap between the bottom six teams was so minuscule that any of them could have an edge on any given day.
At the 2023 F1 British GP, it does appear that a clear bifurcation might be emerging. Both Alpine and Mclaren seem to have left the group of the bottom six and put some distance between themselves. These two teams hold the edge over the bottom four teams in terms of performance but are a step behind the top four teams.
We're looking at the F1 grid once again settling itself into the groups of the frontrunners, midfield, and then the backmarkers.
