#ShaGP: Practice - Friday

Back to the future: Race 1 out of 999

The first ever World Championship Formula One race, the Grand Prix d’Europe in Silverstone, took place on May 13th 1950 and included a Swiss baron, a Thai prince and a well-known Jazz musician. 120,000 spectators lined the track on race day, though the by far most important was His Royal Highness King George VI, who attended the race with Queen Elizabeth. Alfa Romeo’s 158 may have been 13 years old at the time of the first World Championship race, but the 1.5-litre supercharged machine was still the car to beat, which helped the Italian manufacturer sign three of the era’s biggest names: Giuseppe ‘Nino’ Farina, Luigi Fagioli and Juan Manuel Fangio, affectionately known as the “Three F’s”. After 70 laps, it was Farina who triumphed, ahead of fellow Italian Fagioli by 2.6s across the line, but it was British driver Reg Parnell and not Fangio who completed Alfa’s clean sweep of the podium. Alfa Romeo drivers consequently dominated the season with Farina edging out Argentine teammate Juan Manuel Fangio and winning the championship after seven races (Indy 500 included).

Weather: FP1: sunny/cloudy and dry, 16-19°C air, 31-36°C track; FP2: sunny/cloudy and dry, 19-20°C air, 29-35°C track

Kimi Räikkönen (car number 7):
Alfa Romeo Racing C38 (Chassis 02/Ferrari)
1st practice: 15th / 1:35.729 min (23 laps) / 2nd practice: 11th / 1:34.551 (33 laps)
“It’s Friday, so the result doesn’t really matter. We will work as usual tonight and go through everything. We will have a better picture of where we stand after FP3, and see where we will get in qualifying.”

Antonio Giovinazzi (car number 99):
Alfa Romeo Racing C38 (Chassis 03/Ferrari)
1st practice: 20th / no time set (2 laps) / 2nd practice: 18th / 1:35.914 (40 laps)
“It’s a shame to have missed the first free practice today. We had a technical problem on my car, but the team set out to resolve the issue quickly and we were able to start FP2 without trouble. The second practice was ok. We did our best to make up for the time we lost in the morning and are now concentrating on doing the best job possible tomorrow.”