EL1 – Bottas in form at Paul Ricard

After two races without a single point, Bottas finished FP1 at the top of the timesheet with 3 tenths ahead of his teammate Hamilton.

Published on 18/06/2021 à 12:46

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Bottas at the top of FP1 this afternoon! / © Photo Antonin Vincent / DPPI

Valtteri Bottas starts your French weekend in the most beautiful way. The Finnish driver returns to the top of the timesheet with a 1.33.448. He is ahead of his teammate Lewis Hamilton for 3 tenths. Behind follow the two Red-Bull drivers at 4 and 7 tenths, Max Verstappen ahead of the last winner Sergio Perez, but who achieved his best time in Hard. The Dutchman was unhappy with the balance of his car. The championship leader was seen making mistakes several times on the 5.861 km circuit.

For his home Grand Prix, Alpine showed herself rather quickly on the Paul Ricard circuit, putting her two cars in the top 10. Or with climbs to 5th with a 1.34.329, 8 tenths off the best time. Alonso is in 7th place in 1.34.693. Both Mclaren and the two Alpha Tauris complete the top 10, Ricciardo before Norris among oranges when gasly is in front of tsunoda.

A more discreet session for Ferrari. The first of the red cars ranks in 11th position, 1 second 5 behind Bottas' time. Sainz is even further away with the 16th time in 1.35.342. The Spanish driver made a mistake at turn 2, destroying Soft tires. Note that at Williams, it was Roy Nissany who took George Russell's place. He brings up the rear with the last time.

A session which saw a lot of off-track exits, particularly at turn 2. This was the case for the Finns Raïkkönen and Bottas. The latter also damaged his front wing on the yellow tubes outside the bend, which was not failed to point out Mercedes to the FIA during the session.
Bigger shock on the other hand for Hag. The German driver, on the podium in Baku, hit the wall at turn 11. The back of his Aston Martin was damaged and he lost 40 minutes of running time.
FP2 is scheduled for 15:00 p.m. and the drivers will have 1 hour of driving time to fine-tune the settings.

FP1 CLASSIFICATION

Mercedes back on form, with Red Bull just behind

And a strong showing from @AlpineF1Team in the opening session at their home race #FrenchGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/rUs0beKoQI

— Formula 1 (@F1) June 18, 2021