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Valtteri Bottas led the first FP1 session at Mugello for Mercedes with Max Verstappen second for Red Bull and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc third, with the Scuderia celebrating their 1000th race at this weekend’s Tuscan Grand Prix.
This low-downforce, high-speed circuit, which is owned by Ferrari, was used by the Scuderia for a day of filming earlier this year and was last graced by several F1 cars in 2012 for seasonal testing, but it has never hosted an F1. Big prize.
The cars took to the track for the first time angry on Friday morning for FP1, and once the soft tires were bolted midway through the 90-minute session, it was Bottas who set the fastest time of 1m17.879s. , only 0.048s faster than Verstappen’s.
READ MORE: Leclerc anticipates a ‘more positive’ weekend for Ferrari at the 1000 Grand Prix celebration
Leclerc, in his retro-liveried Ferrari, managed a lap faster than Lewis Hamilton (P4) to take third place in an encouraging session for the Italian team ahead of his anniversary race, albeit 0.307 seconds off Bottas’ best time. . Hamilton was half a second behind his teammate.
Last week’s Italian Grand Prix winner Pierre Gasly was fifth, 0.797 seconds off the top, for AlphaTauri, ahead of compatriot Esteban Ocon for Renault. Gasly’s teammate Daniil Kvyat was the last driver within a second of Bottas, finishing 0.960 seconds in P7.
The eighth was Lando Norris, who began the session by singing on the radio, clearly jubilant to hit this impressive Tuscan track for the first time in an F1 car. He finished just under a tenth ahead of Red Bull’s Alex Albon.
Daniel Ricciardo completed the top 10 for Renault, with 1,261 dividing him and Bottas.
READ MORE: ‘It can’t be worse than Monza,’ says Verstappen as he predicts Red Bull rebirth at Mugello
Kimi Raikkonen, on the 20th anniversary of his first F1 test on this same track, was the fastest Alfa Romeo in 11th place, his teammate Antonio Giovinazzi took P14. Among them were Ferrari drivers Romain Grosjean for Haas in 12th place and Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, in 13th.
Vettel, who was heading for Aston Martin, may have finished more than 1.3 seconds slower than his teammate, but the two Ferrari drivers were running significantly different schedules in FP1 – the German used hard during the first half of the session, and his teammate Leclerc used media.
|
one Valtteri Bottas BOT Mercedes |
1: 17,879 |
|
two Max Verstappen SEE Red bull racing |
+ 0.048 s |
|
3 Charles Leclerc LEC Ferrari |
+ 0.307 s |
|
4 Luis Hamilton HAM Mercedes |
+ 0.530 s |
|
5 Pierre Gasly GAS AlphaTauri |
+ 0.797 s |
Carlos Sainz, fresh off P2 at last week’s Italian Grand Prix, was 15th for McLaren and half a second behind his teammate Norris, but Sainz’s MCL35 sported a new nose, covered in paint. fluid, while McLaren tested a new design in FP1.
Williams ‘George Russell was the only driver to set his fastest lap on medium tires and did so on P16, ahead of Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, who has a new combustion engine for the weekend after a engine failure stopped your progress at Monza.
READ MORE: Mick Schumacher to drive his father’s 2004 Ferrari at Mugello ahead of the team’s 1000 GP
The Racing Point pairing of Lance Stroll and outgoing Sergio Perez were P18 and P19 respectively, setting their fastest laps on hard tires, concentrating on long runs in FP1. Last was Williams’ Nicholas Latifi, who also used hard whitewall tires for his fastest laps. Latifi’s late spin was the only caution in a trouble-free session.
The drivers are still finding their feet in Tuscany, but the first signs are that Red Bull is closer to Mercedes after their difficult weekend at Monza, and Ferrari is also looking to be in better shape: we will see Mercedes’ usual place in the race. top of the race. the network will be altered in FP2? You can follow all the action live on F1.com.
