Silverstone (United Kingdom) (AFP)

The Racing Point team made the buzz on Friday during the first day of free practice at the British Grand Prix thanks to Lance Stroll's best time but also to the unexpected return of Nico Hülkenberg.

If the Canadian turned the fastest during the day, the German took advantage of the setbacks of Sergio Perez, Stroll's usual teammate, to find the seat of an F1 in a totally unexpected way.

The Mexican pilot tested positive for the coronavirus on Thursday and was forced to go into quarantine. Suddenly, it is impossible for him to participate in the 4th Grand Prix of the season on Sunday and Racing Point had to find a replacement at short notice.

The choice quickly fell on Nico Hülkenberg, 32, thanked by Renault at the end of last season and who suddenly found himself without a steering wheel.

Warned Thursday, he landed immediately at Silverstone, passed the compulsory Covid test and, just minutes before the start of the first free practice session on Friday morning, found himself strapped in his car.

He quickly showed that he did not lose any of his speed. 9th time in the morning, 7th in the afternoon, it appears as a possible surprise of this Grand Prix, which - like the first three - is played behind closed doors.

His only complaint concerned a cramp in the right buttock after a few laps during the first session.

Despite his talent, the German driver holds the unenviable record of being of all the drivers in the history of F1 the one who has taken part in the greatest number of Grands Prix (177) without ever reaching the podium.

The choice of Racing Point fell partly on him because he had already driven for this team - which was then called Force India - from 2011 to 2012 then from 2014 to 2016 before moving to Renault.

Racing Point manager Otmar Szafnauer said on Friday that Hülkenberg would also replace Sergio Perez for the next race at Silverstone on August 9 if the latter could not participate due to health rules in the UK.

He added, without blaming him, that Perez had traveled to Mexico after the previous Hungarian Grand Prix almost two weeks ago to visit his ailing mother, stressing that he had used a private plane for this and without breaking any rules.

- Wind in the sails -

For Hülkenberg, the opportunity is all the more beautiful as the candy pink single-seaters are on the rise, as Lance Stroll's best time on Friday shows.

The Canadian, son of team boss Lawrence Stroll, finished 4th in the Hungarian Grand Prix and Perez 7th.

Powered by a Mercedes engine, the Racing Points are very much inspired by the Mercedes which won the world championship last year with Lewis Hamilton. So much so that the Renault team accuses Racing Point of having purely and simply copied it and lodged a complaint, still being examined by the International Automobile Federation (FIA).

The "real" Mercedes were more discreet than usual with the 3rd fastest time for the Finnish Valtteri Bottas and the 5th for Lewis Hamilton who will seek to win his national Grand Prix for the 7th time on Sunday.

Under the strong heat that reigned on the English circuit, it was the Anglo-Thai Alexander Albon who achieved the second fastest time, just before violently leaving the track, damaging his Red Bull. The other driver of the Austrian team, the Dutchman Max Verstappen, only achieved the 14th fastest time on Friday afternoon, a session more devoted to the tuning than to the search for a great time.

Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) obtained the 4th fastest time, his German teammate Sebastian Vettel experiencing a day full of mechanical glitches which prevented him from participating in the 1st session and delayed in the 2nd, illustrating the difficulties currently facing the Italian stable.

© 2020 AFP