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Alonso tops first morning of Silverstone test

McLaren-Honda's Fernando Alonso has topped the first morning of in-season F1 testing being held at Silverstone, ahead of Esteban Ocon and Alex Lynn.

One of only four F1 race drivers to be lapping the Northamptonshire circuit amidst a number of test and development drivers, Alonso posted a best time of 1min 31.290secs in the Mclaren-Honda, 1.6secs clear of Ocon.

Having first driven the championship leading car in Barcelona, Ocon - who also drove the Renault during FP1 testing during the British Grand Prix - completed 80 laps in the Mercedes W07 at Silverstone this time, ahead of Lynn, returning to the Williams cockpit as he continues his pitch for a full-time 2017 drive.

Having sampled the Haas during FP1 over the British Grand Prix weekend, Charles Leclerc has been given the chance to drive the front running Ferrari SF16-T today as part of his Ferrari Driver Academy status, the Monegasque fourth fastest but completing only 17 laps.

Of the two drivers sampling F1 machinery for the first time, Nikita Mazepin was a notable fifth fastest for Force India, while GP3 racer Santino Ferrucci was seventh best in the Haas, the pair split by Toro Rosso regular Carlos Sainz.

Meanwhile, the 2014 title winning Mercedes W05 made an appearance on track in the hands of Pascal Wehrlein as part of Pirelli's testing programme with a 2017 tyre prototype. The German completed 48 laps.

Having appeared on the Ferrari during the British GP weekend, the 'Halo II' cockpit protection device was back out again but this time on the Red Bull RB12. Completing just a single installation lap in the hands of Pierre Gasly, the Frenchman was barely seen thereafter completing just 7 laps.

Zdroj: crash.net