#FrenchGP FP1: @ValtteriBottas leads @MercedesAMGF1 one-two. #F1

Valtteri Bottas lead a Mercedes one-two in the opening FP1 session at the French GP ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen who was third.

 

 

Azerbaijan GP winner Sergio Perez was fourth in the other Honda-powered RB16B, as F1’s top two constructors occupied the top four places at Circuit Paul Ricard.

 

Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel lead the field out of the pits when FP1 began, and his AMR21 racer was fitted with triangular-shaped aero rakes, before Alfa Romeo Racing’s Antonio Giovinazzi set the first time on the board with a 1:38.487 as the majority lapped on the Pirelli C2 white side-walled harder compounds in the early proceedings.

 

Scuderia AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc – who were running the mediums – Red Bull’s Perez and the other Ferrari of Carlos Sainz all improved their best efforts with their opening flyers at the end of the opening five minutes, with Sainz lowering the benchmark to a 1:36.749.

 

Verstappen then jumped to the top with a 1:35.639, which remained as the best time until McLaren’s Lando Norris bettered that with a 1:35.461 after the opening ten minutes.

 

Following the McLaren, Sainz moved back into P1 with a 1:35.342, but Verstappen went quicker setting a 1:34.139, which stood as the fastest time on the harder rubber.

 

Near the mid-way point, the Mercedes pairing emerged on the C4 red-branded softer tyres to complete their initial performance runs with Hamilton taking top spot with a 1:33.783.

 

Verstappen’s opening hot-lap was a narrow 0.097 seconds adrift of Hamilton’s benchmark, who was soon trounced by team-mate Bottas – who was run over the large kerbs at the exit of the second corner fast right hander in the earlier proceedings and damaged his front wing.

 

After spending time in the Mercedes garage as the Brackley-based outfit assessed the W12 – which it estimated was “tens of thousands of pounds” worth of damage when it’s Sporting Director Ron Meadows complained to the FIA’s Race Director Michael Masi regarding replacing the kerbs – Bottas slotted in behind Verstappen on the time-sheets at the end of his stint on the hards.

 

The Finn’s 1:33.488 opening flyer on the softs put him 0.335 seconds ahead of team-mate Hamilton and stood as the quickest effort of the session.

 

Verstappen wounded up a further 0.432 seconds adrift of Bottas’ French GP FP1 benchmark with Perez 0.745 seconds off in fourth place.

 

Red Bull brought Verstappen in to make a few changes after his initial soft-run, as the Dutchman nearly matched his time in the opening sector – which remained until the session’s end – before he was fastest of all in sector two.

 

But Verstappen ran wide over the kerbs exiting turn eleven’s long-fast right, meaning the Red Bull driver aborted his lap, with the Dutchman suspecting floor damage in the turn 11 moment.

 

Alpine F1 Team’s Esteban Ocon moved up to fifth place with a late push on the softs, finishing in-front of McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo who was sixth and team-mate Fernando Alonso who ended up seventh.

 

AlphaTauri’s Gasly was eighth and ahead of McLaren’s Norris taking ninth and Yuki Tsunoda in the second AlphaTauri completing the top ten.

 

A few drivers mirrored Bottas’ moment in running heavily over the second corner exit kerbs – including Alfa Romeo Racing’s Kimi Raikkonen (13th place) and Gasly – with three drivers spinning off.

 

Haas F1 Team’s Mick Schumacher, who ended the session 19th, spun approaching turn three on his out-lap on the harder compounds at the beginning of FP1, clipping the wall with his front-right tyre after darting off left when he hit the brakes of his VF-21 racer approaching the corner.

 

The German was able to recover and return to the pits, which Vettel managed to do also after suffering a high-speed spin turning into turn 11.

 

The AMR21’s rear swung around on Vettel as he turned right for the first sequence of the corner, which sent the Aston Martin driver off backwards over the striped run-off area and whacked the tyre barrier with his rear wing.

 

Although it was a significant impact, the German was able to continue and eventually returned to the track for running later in the session, finishing FP1 in 15th, one place behind team-mate Lance Stroll.

 

Sainz was the other spinner, losing the SF21’s rear after clipping the turn two apex hard and going backwards into the run-off area, ruining his set of softs, just after the Ferrari driver was ready to start his performance stint on that rubber.

 

The Ferrari pairing of Leclerc and Sainz ended FP1 in 11th and 16th respectively.

 

Williams Racing’s Nicholas Latifi and Roy Nissany (filling in for regular George Russell in opening practice) were 17th and at the rear respectively with Haas F1 Team’s Nikita Mazepin and the aforementioned Schumacher in 18th and 19th.

 

You can read the full Formula 1 Emirates French Grand Prix Free Practice 1 Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2021/races/1070/france/practice-1.html

 

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#Formula1 Emirates #FrenchGP 2021 Preview. #F1