@Charles_Leclerc leads @Max33Verstappen in #RussianGP FP1. #F1
Charles Leclerc, #16, Scuderia Ferrari, SF90, in action during opening practice at the Formula 1 VTB Russian Grand Prix, Sochi Autodrom, Sochi, Russia. Image credit to LAT/Sutton Images.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc lead from Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen in the opening practice session at the Russian Grand Prix as the latter split the Ferrari pairing.
Leclerc finished FP1 only 0.082 seconds quicker than Verstappen, but was a further 0.543 seconds faster than Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel.
Valtteri Bottas placed fourth in the Mercedes and more than sevenths adrift of Leclerc’s benchmark while team-mate Hamilton rounded out the top five.
Both Mercedes drivers however, set their best efforts on the harder compound of tyre.
Leclerc left his initial hot lap just under the thirty minute mark, and immediately hit the top with a 1:37.593, despite having to slow down for waved yellow flags caused by Daniil Kvyat’s parked Toro Rosso.
The local hero, who will start his home Grand Prix at the back of the pack due to power-unit component changes, pulled his STR14 racer off the track at the exit of turn 14, with the Russian’s stoppage leading to a momentary Virtual Safety Car deployment. Kvyat did not return to the session.
Leclerc improved his benchmark straight out of the box by almost a second when the VSC was ended, only to be jumped by the Mercedes duo’s first respective efforts.
Hamilton held top spot by the time fellow competitors were handing in their first sets of rubber, with the championship leader posting a 1:36.031 on softer rubber despite reporting his brakes were “not working properly” during his outing.
The Brackley-based outfit switched to the harder compounds for the rest of the hour and a half long session, as Bottas soon took to the front running the yellow-branded mediums, lowering the best time to a 1:35.198.
Whilst Vettel could only find a couple of tenths improvement compared to Bottas’ effort, Leclerc immediately set the 1:34.462, which would be the best time that stood for the remainder of the session.
Red Bull’s Verstappen spent most of FP1 outside the top ten, but the Dutchman picked up his pace on used soft tyres with 20 minutes remaining to get within 0.082 seconds of Leclerc.
Bottas and Hamilton completed the top five behind third-placed Vettel, with Hamilton trailing his Silver Arrows team-mate – who was told his rear wing on his F1 W10 EQ Power+ racer had failed in the closing stages of opening practice – by two tenths of a second.
The second Red Bull of Alexander Albon was a further tenth behind in sixth-place, and was nine-tenths down from his team-mate Verstappen’s benchmark.
The Renault pairing of Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo were best of the rest in seventh and eighth respectively, with the latter going off track at turn ten after the chequered flag was waved and destroying his R.S.19 racer’s rear wing in the process against the barrier, limping his car back to pit-lane.
Racing Point’s Sergio Perez and newly re-signed Haas F1 Team driver Romain Grosjean rounded out the top ten.
McLaren’s Carlos Sainz ended FP1 outside the top ten in 11th place and in-front of Toro Rosso Pierre Gasly – who had run as high as seventh and behind the usual front runners after the opening runs, dropped down to 12th.
Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen ended opening practice in 13th and ahead of second Racing Point of Lance Stroll who took 14th and Alfa Romeo Racing’s Kimi Raikkonen who finished 15th.
The other McLaren of Lando Norris completed FP1 in 16th and in-front of Alfa Romeo Racing’s Antonio Giovinazzi who wound up 17th with the latter suffering an early spin at turn four.
ROKiT WIlliams Racing’s George Russell finished in 18th place and ahead of the aforementioned Kvyat who was 19th.
The other Williams of Robert Kubica brought up the rear, with the Pole also suffering a spin and just keeping his FW42 racer away from the wall at the exit of turn five.
Kubica who was two tenths adrift of team-mate Russell, will start at the rear of the grid for Sunday’s Grand Prix after fitting new Mercedes Internal Combustion Engine, Turbocharger and MGU-H components.
You can see the full Formula 1 VTB Russian Grand Prix Free Practice 1 Results Classification right here at the link:
https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2019/races/1015/russia/practice-1.html
You can also catch up on this weekend’s race preview right here at the link:
