George Russell got off to a red start as a Mercedes super-sub in his weekend, staying fast ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in the first practice session of the Sakhir Grand Prix as the drivers got their first taste of the ‘outer loop’ track configuration in Bahrain.
In the absence of Lewis Hamilton, who will be parting ways with the Covid-19 this weekend, Russell has been spotted in a Mercedes this weekend and finished his first season with a lap of 54.546 on this fast-paced layout of the Bahrain International Circuit. Russell’s fear was 0.332 times faster than the best efforts of teammate Valteri Bottas, the fourth fastest behind Russell and the two Red Bulls.
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The Red Bulls occupied P2 and P3, with Verstapen closing at 0.176s and Alex Alban at just 0.265 with Russell’s pace. At the end of the season Alban got a high speed spin on turn 2, but his RB16 was fortunately left unscathed.
Fifth-placed Daniel Kavyat was half a second behind Russell and tenth-ranked faster than sixth-ranked teammate Pierre Gasley as Alfatouri had an encouraging session. In a strange moment, Gasley was seen at one point clinging to the mirror of his right wing, as he threatened to fall down from the car on the way back to the pit.
|
. George Russell Russia Mercedes |
54,546 |
|
2 Max Worstapen VER Red Bull Racing |
+ 0.176s |
|
3 Alexander Alban ALB Red Bull Racing |
+ 0.265s |
|
4 Voltaire Botas B.O.T. Mercedes |
+ 0.322s |
|
5 Daniel Kvyat KVY Alfatauri |
+ 0.465s |
2020 Sakhir Grand Prix FP1: Onboard for George Russell’s Fastest Leap
Renault and Ferraris are joined by Esteban O’Connor in seventh and Daniel Riccardo in ninth; Sebastian Vettel eighth and Charles Leclerc tenth – both teams are hoping to get more behind McLaren at last week’s Bahrain Grand Prix.
So Racing Point, missed out on the top 10, with Lance Stroll 11th and Sergio Perez, who last retired from the podium clash, 12th.
Read more: Russell ‘can win pole and win’ on Mercedes debut, says Norris, as Lakelake predicts ‘at least podium’
McLaren was also absent from the top-10 in FP1, while Carlos Sanz 13 spent considerable time in the garage for repairs due to the difficulties of this circuit layout and heavy curbs. Lando Norris was ranked 16th overall.
Among the McLarens were 14th-ranked Kimi Raikkonen’s Alfa Romeo and 15th-ranked Antonio Giovinazzi.
2020 Sakhir Grand Prix FP1: Gasley runs with one hand with broken mirror
As Roman Grozian recovered from his horror crash in his last race, Pietro Fittipaldi was named his replacement and finished P19 for Haas this season. He was second only to teammate Kevin Magnussen, who finished 17th as he prepared to move to sports car Stateside in 2021.
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Behind Fittipaldi was Williams’ reserve driver, Jack Itken, who is in charge for Russell this weekend. Itkane outscored Russell in the Mercedes at 2.157, and was four-tenths behind 18th-ranked teammate Nicolas Lutfi.
Williams’ Latifi and Aitken were the only drivers who didn’t put the fastest time on soft tires, with Latifi using the media for his personal best and Aitken using the hardest combinations.
Free Practice 2 is likely to be an action-packed session as the laps come thick and fast on this very short circuit, but will any Mercedes temporary driver be able to knock Russell off the top of the stands? Find out as soon as FP2 starts at 2030 local time.
