EL1 at Paul Ricard: Mercedes double, Ericsson's Sauber on fire

The Briton sets a reference time of 1'32''231 with Pirelli's Ultra-Soft rubber and is 140 thousandths faster than the second Mercedes W09 at Circuit Paul Ricard.

As questions surrounding its future become more and more pressing, Daniel Ricciardo wins the 3rd best time. Both Ferrari by Kimi Räikkönen and Sebastian Vettel follow in close formation. The scarlet single-seaters are, however, relegated to more than 7 tenths. Romain Grosjean hoist his Haas VF-18 in a good 6th place, just ahead Max Verstappen (Red Bull) and his compatriot Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso-Honda).

Sergio Pérez is the best Force India representative with the 9th fastest time, three positions ahead of his teammate Esteban Ocon. Kevin Magnussen (Haas) completes the Top 10. Complicated opening session for McLaren : Fernando Alonso (in Super-Tendres) and Stoffel Vandoorne (in Ultra) keep company with the Williams with the 16th and 19th times respectively. THE Renault are also indented: Carlos Sainz finished 11th, while his teammate Nico Hulkenberg must contain the 18th mark.

This first driving session saw numerous track exits and spins as the drivers got their bearings on a Var circuit. The session was shortened by a few minutes after Marcus Ericsson went off the track. The Swede's Sauber ended up in the wall of tires on the double straight of Beausset before catching fire.

Ericsson was able to escape from its car without incident but the damage suffered forced him to forfeit Free Practice 2.

Finally, note that Mercedes has confirmed that it has installed new turbochargers, MGU-H, and internal combustion engines (ICE) on the 6 single-seaters powered by the German manufacturer. The latter, however, refrained from specifying whether they benefit from phase II of the in-house ICE. The decision will be announced after Free Practice 2 which will start at 16:00 p.m.

FP1 CLASSIFICATION

The Mercedes duo leads the way, with Grosjean pipping Verstappen for P6 #FrenchGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/3N8pP23rP3

— Formula 1 (@F1) 22th June 2018